There ain't gonna be no re-match

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2005)

Rocky seems to be a movie that has suffered in reputation from the legacy of the series as a whole. It is fair to say the series went on to become unrealistic in the extreme and while I have a fondness for parts 2-4 (5 is not good)I honestly believe that the first Rocky movie would be far better thought of without the sequels and the career path that Stallone took.
While the films that followed became event movies, sports action movies the first is a character portrait. Stallone will never better his first performance as Rocky Balboa (although his turn in Copland does come close). Rocky is bitter and has a real dark side. He is unable to relate or communicate with most people and he seems to lead a very insular life. He is at the bottom, a bone breaker for a loan shark with no future. As a boxer he is told early in the movie by Mickey that he had the tools but wasted them. He is a two-bit club fighter and a bum.
Luck (or the American dream) knock on his door when the World heavyweight boxing champion picks him at random, because of his nickname (The Italian Stallion) for a shot at the world title. Unlike the films that follow the chance is dealt with in the most realistic fashion. Rocky is scared. He fears for his safety but most important is his pride. If he can go the distance with Apollo Creed he can finally hold his head high, he will have achieved something.
One of the very best things about this movie is the fantastic supporting cast. Carl Weather's portrayal of Apollo Creed is flawless. The Ali inspired champ is totally convincing not only in but out of the ring. Without this cocky, arrogant foil then Rocky's accomplishments would not mean as much.
Talia Shire is excellent as the meek Adrian and the late Joe Spinel is as watchable as ever as Tony. But the special mentions should go to Burgess Meridith who plays the physically weak but emotionally tough Mickey with brilliant fragility and Burt Young who plays the unhinged Paulie with a disturbing ease. The scene in which Mickey goes to Rocky to offer his management for the fight after the way he has treated him with utter disdain is heartbreaking and brilliantly acted on both sides. Mickey realises it is his last chance and despite Rocky's anger he knows that he needs his help more than anything. The conclusion of the sequence, where Rocky runs onto the street after Mickey, having chastised him, and accepts his offer is one of my favorite movie moments ever, played in long shot with no dialogue.
The locations are superb, the streets of working class Philidephia, the city of brotherly love, are the perfect place for Rocky's grubby life to be played out. This is the factor that Rocky 5 tried to recapture but couldn't years later. The city is almost a character in the film, one of the many factors that holds back Balboa.
The crux of the matter, the element of the film that makes every other element work is the fact that Rocky doesn't win the fight. If he had the efforts at realism and character details would have been for nothing. Rocky's triumphs are personal not physical, he succeeds but doesn't win and that makes the film all the more impressive