The tortoise and the hare coupled with Georgie Girl

Rating: 6/10 (29 April 2017)

Yes, this film is cute, upbeat, and likable. But the plot is so obvious and clichéd. Heavyweight champion Apollo Creed needs a boxing partner for his next fight and it is decided to give an average joe boxer the chance to win the title on January 1, 1976, the 200th anniversary of the United States declaring independence. Well actually that would be July 4, but I won't quibble. That average joe is 3rd rate boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) who makes ends meet by collecting for a mobster.
Rocky only has eyes for cripplingly shy plain Adrian (Talia Shire) who works in the pet store. Adrian lives with her alcoholic bully of a brother, Paulie, who is a butcher and friends with Rocky. It would be easy to scratch your head and ask why Rocky never gave up pursuing Adrian who, if she wasn't disinterested, was so shy she might never come out of her shell. But Rocky saw himself as a diamond in the rough, regardless of other people's opinions, and I think he took the time to realize this young woman was a diamond in the rough too if only she would come out of that shell.
Now everybody who can disrespects Rocky - the driver of the mobster he works for is always insulting him, a neighborhood girl who is hanging out with the bad kids is given an endearing lecture by Rocky about girls who have bad "reps" only to have her make an obscene gesture as they part after walking home, and most of all Mick (Burgess Meredith), who runs the local gym, is always yelling at Rocky about what a loser he is.
When it becomes known that Rocky has been given a shot at the title, suddenly people want a piece of him. Mick comes to him and wants to be his manager. Rocky is not stupid. He realizes the difference in treatment is because of the opportunity he has been given, and if not for that people would still be walking on him. The scene between him and Mick where Rocky explodes with resentment is really good acting by Stallone.
So Rocky does ultimately let Mick train him, and the scene of Rocky running after Mick after Rocky at first threw him out of his apartment is shot from a distance, so we never know what was said, and that again is good filmmaking. Rocky takes the whole thing seriously while Creed is too busy with public appearances to train.
In parallel with Rocky's training is his romance with Adrian who transforms from a plain looking girl into a stylish pretty girl. This is one of those obvious things because Talia Shire was not an unknown. She was in the Godfather for Pete's sake, so the audience knows she is not ugly. Just don't style her hair, dress her drably, no makeup and some geeky looking glasses and voila - the ugly duckling. Rocky's unconditional love gives her confidence to dress well and present herself attractively.
So the big day comes, Rocky has done his homework, Creed hasn't really prepared, expecting this to be a three round publicity stunt. Adrian has changed so much that nobody who knew her three months ago could recognize her in a lineup. How does all of this end up? Watch and find out.
I don't think this was the Best Picture of 1976, but it was probably the most upbeat of the A pictures that came out that year. Look at its competition - "All The President's Men" which was about Watergate, "Network" about a bloodless television executive who will do anything for ratings, "Taxi Driver" about a psychologically troubled ex-marine, and "Bound For Glory" about a folk singer of the Depression era who died of just about the worst disease on earth. Maybe the Academy just wanted to pick a feel good film, and Rocky was the only one that fit that bill.