A classic underdog story

Rating: 9/10 (29 November 2019)

Rocky Balboa is a Philadelphia boxer whose career in the ring appears to be going nowhere. Apollo Creed is the heavyweight champion of world who is due to face his next challenger in a fight in Philadelphia but with a matter of weeks to go the challenger is forced to pull out. Not wanting to abandon the bout Creed decides to give a local boy a shot at the title... that local boy is Rocky. At this point Rocky is working as muscle for a local loan shark and trying to get his friend Paulie's sister, Adrian, to go out with him. He doesn't think he has any real chance in the fight but trains hard in the hope that when the day of the fight comes he can at least last the fifteen rounds.
'Rocky' is always going to be considered one of the great boxing movies but it is so much more than that. It is a character study of a man whose life was never going to go anywhere till he gets that once in a lifetime chance. He grabs that chance and despite his doubts he sees it through to the end. Just as important as his boxing is the way his relationship with Adrian develops; it feels natural and avoids many of the expected clichÃ©s. His other relationships are also believable as the characters feel real rather than the usual Hollywood types. Sylvester Stallone does an impressive job in the title role but impresses even more for writing the story and getting the film we see made. The rest of the cast is solid; most notably Talia Shire, who is a delight as Adrian; Carl Weathers, who plays Apollo; Burt Young, as Paulie; and Burgess Meredith as trainer/manager Mickey. While the fight scenes are only a small part of the film they are pretty well choreographed even if it is occasionally obvious that punches aren't really connecting... they are close enough. Overall I'd recommend this to all film fans even if you don't like boxing; it is about characters not the sport.