Beautiful, low key movie

Rating: 10/10 (21 April 2020)

This movie takes a very understated view of its protagonist and its story. The magic of this movie is the moments between the "moments". Rocky's face as Adrian doesn't look at him. His trainer's last look at the bathroom that Rocky disappeared into. The people that populate this movie feel real. Rocky is authentically lacking the finesse that makes the following movies so gloriously cheesy (here's looking at you IV). What we have in this is a flawed character, built from the Philadelphia soul that framed him, shaped by the brutality of poverty, undercut by internalized misogyny, but, ultimately, a caring, good-hearted man who wants to be somebody. One of the greatest sports movies ever made.