The Underdog Story

Rating: 9/10 (25 November 2016)

A story of a boxer and a man in the pursuit of the American dream, Rocky is a beautiful tale of an underdog. It depicts not only an underdog in the ring, but an underdog in life.
The screenplay unites Rocky's dual identity forming a parallelism in the plot that rings true for so many, making a masterpiece of a movie. The only faltering point is the undoubtedly clichéd nature, which squeezes the originality of the movie dry. The acting is superb: Sylvester Stallone as the despairing, no-life Itallian Stallion, Talia Shire as the estranged, beautiful- on-the-inside Adrian, Burt Young as the desperate alcoholic Paulie, and Burgess Meredith as the wistful trainer Mickey. Each actor perfectly adopts the mindset of each desirous character searching for their own American dream. What can be said about the training montage and its filming, except describing its utter perfection. The soundtrack also works to inspire hope in the audience for the hopeless underdog.
The director worked against all odds to finish this film with class. A million dollar budget, 28 days to shoot, and Stallone's stubbornness to work against, but he pulled it off. He created an underdog movie that rose up and won Best Picture about an underdog.
Rocky is a perfection of the clichéd underdog that may never be achieved again.
9/10