A Great (Philadelphia) Story

Rating: 10/10 (16 September 2005)

Down-on-his-luck, aspiring actor Sylvester Stallone watched Chuck Wepner, a "ham and egger," go the distance with Muhammad Ali, going as far against him as many greats of that era. That 1974 fight inspired "Rocky," the story of a Philadelphia fringe boxer/wiseguy who isn't really good at either, scraping together a living collecting debts for Mr. Gasso (a loan shark), boxing for minimum wage, and the generosity of butcher friend Paulie, who wants in with Gasso.
I saw this film twenty-three times on HBO in February 1978, when I first got HBO, but didn't really appreciate it until I had lived in Philadelphia for several years after moving from New York. The movie captures the spirit of Philadelphia, from its shiftless characters who barely have a niche in life, to the spirit of its citizens, who are like poodles that think they can "go the distance" with a pitbull.
Heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) has a New Year's bout that is in danger of being cancelled when the challenger is injured during training. Faced with having to refund the tickets and eat the overhead for the fight, Creed decides to give a local, unknown fighter a shot at the title. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is chosen because of his nickname: "The Italian Stallion." Rocky is tough as nails, but lacks the boxing skills of Creed, and sets as his goal, to go the distance, to leave the ring proudly on his feet.
Mickey (Burgess Meredith, ex-Penguin from the "Batman" TV series) is a boxing gym owner and trainer who puts the "old" in "old school." After kicking Rocky out of his locker for being a thug, he begs his way back into training Rocky for the fight. With only five weeks to train, he doesn't even try to teach Rocky how to box, but more how to beat the living crap out of Apollo. He teaches only the rudiments of boxing and how not to fear the heavyweight champion of the world. Mickey trains Rocky to win, making the most of his own chance of a lifetime.
Creed does not take the fight seriously, training sporadically, figuring he'll put on a good show for the crowd before disposing of Rocky. His trainer is more concerned, especially when he catches film of Rocky's devastating left hand. Rocky, who gets $150,000 for the fight, trains mostly not to embarrass himself, but in doing so he does the one thing Creed does not, and that is preparing to deliver a peak effort. Rocky doesn't know what he has, but whatever he's got, none of it will be left on the table at the end of the fight.
The fight begins with Creed using Rocky as a punching bag, until a minor slip-up allows Rocky to deck him to the canvas with an uppercut, sending the local fans wild. After a few rounds, when Creed has hit Rocky with everything he has but Rocky is still standing, Rocky begins to lose respect for creed, his street instincts kick in, and for the rest of the fight he has no fear of his opponent. Creed can box, but Rocky can break bones, and even the heavyweight champion is not immune to that type of destruction. Once Creed went down (something no other fighter had ever done), Rocky had already won, and he did not try to safely go the distance, but to do so as an equal. The result is one of the best fights in the history of cinema.
The Best Picture Oscar was well deserved.