Just Going the Distance is Enough to Make You Somebody...

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 1999)

Rocky Balboa has become a cultural icon. Stories like ROCKY have been told and re-told time and time again. Rags-to-riches, hero gets the girl, etc., right? Yes, but the way ROCKY is told puts one of my all time favorites many Art Museum steps above the rest. Sylvester Stallone was actually an actor back in the seventies and quite a writer. His raw emotion and presence on-screen makes "Rocky Balboa" real and original. The film ironically parallels Stallone's now legendary struggle to get it made his way. Could you imagine Burt Reynolds as "Rocky"? Me neither. Stallone turned down a lot of money to just take a writing credit but he fought his way to the top and revolutionized the actor-screenwriter dimension of film-making.
ROCKY is as predictable as tic-tac-toe. Who cares? The music, the setting, the characters, and the fight make it the American classic it is. "Philadelphia's favorite son" goes through what no fighter in professional boxing could ever possibly imagine. (What world champ would pick a challenger out of a book because of his name?) Director John G. Avildsen puts the exclamation point on Sly's screenplay by isolating the characters and showing their depressingly small world on the dank streets of South Philly. Each performance, especially Burt Young's, is unique. Stallone's yelling match with "Mickey"(Burgess Meredith), his long-time, "broken-down pug" trainer is as powerful as anything Brando did in ON THE WATERFRONT. The movie draws from its cinematic ancestors well. The likes of BODY AND SOUL and SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME are oh so present throughout.
Notice the similarity between Carl Weathers as "Apollo Creed" and Muhammad Ali. Pretty close aren't they? This is not accidental. Stallone supposedly saw a fight between Ali and the latest great white hope of the 70's named Chuck Wepner. The two went the distance in 1974 and Stallone immediately had an idea. Several typewriters and notebooks later, he had a story no one wanted to produce. This is the essence of the parallel between art and reality. Stallone became a name and a superstar because of his spirit and fight. He reflects it all rather well in ROCKY.
Boxing is a great sport to make a film about and the most important aspect may be the fight scenes. Of the 5 ROCKY films, the original has the most realistic fight. Stallone, who even choreographed the boxing scenes, has a great feel for the sport and its inner workings, all very essential. The training sequence provides enough motivation for any couch potato watching to get off his or her butt and get in shape. Turn your tube up and hold back the tears as ROCKY fights for his girl, his city, and his name.
RATING: 10 OF 10