The little story that could

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2007)

I saw this during it's initial theatrical release and I've seen it several times over the years as well as just recently for the first time in along time. It holds up well and is a remarkable film in many ways. It's creation and success is as improbable as it's story. An unknown struggling actor with tough guy looks writes a screenplay about a struggling boxing club fighter who is somehow given a chance to make the most improbable leap imaginable; a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world. Syvester Stallone wrote the story after seeing a fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Wepner was a club boxer known as "The Bayonne Bleeder" who worked as a liquor salesman to make a living. In a boxing stunt to give an unknown a chance with a champion, a fight was arranged between he an Ali. The fight was expected to be a brief one with Ali hardly working up a sweat but Wepner went the full 15 round distance and even knocked Ali down once in the fight. In Rocky Stallone plays the title role of a club fighter who works as a collection enforcer for a loan shark to make a living. He's a sensitive guy behind his tough exterior and has a crush on the mousy pet shop sales girl Adrian played by Talia Shire. Burt Young is Paulie, her brother. Burgess Meredeth is Mickey, the owner of the gym where Rocky fights. Carl Weathers is Apollo Creed the Champ who wants to give an unknown from the streets a chance to fight him. Rocky gets selected for the chance and Mickey trains him for the match. Meredeth was the best known of the cast at the time of the film. Shire was known for her recent supporting roles in The Godfather I and II but only for those roles and here is an opportunity to break from the Godfather. Stallone, Young, Weathers and the rest of the cast were relative unknowns. Shot on a small budget and in a 30 day shoot schedule it would make 50 times what it cost to make it during it's initial North American theatrical release and go on to be nominated for an incredible 10 Academy Awards, winning two of the biggest in Best Picture and Best Director and a third for Best Film Editing. John Alvidson who had some critical success with Joe and Save the tiger get an Oscar for his direction. Scott Conrad and Richard Halsey early in their careers get an Oscar for their editing. James Crabbe is the cinematographer. Among the Academy Award nominations Rocky beat out a strong field that included Network, Taxi Driver and All the President's Men for Best Picutre. Stallone in his two nominations for Best Actor and Original Screenplay lost out to film veterans Peter Finch in Network and Paddy Chayefsky's Network screenplay. Young and Meredith may have canceled each other out with two of the five nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Jason Robards won the Oscar for All the President's Men in a strong field of nominees that also included Luarence Olivier and Ned Beatty. Meredith should have won the Oscar for his memorable performance. Shire lost out to Faye Dunaway in Network for Best Actress. This film of course went on to launch a franchise of Rocky films for Stallone but I would have preferred no sequels to this story. Just let it stand as it is as the little story that could. This is a very likable film filled with memorable scenes and duologue and shot on location in Philadelphia with a gritty look. It's worth a look if you've never seen it and worth a revisit if it's been awhile since you've seen it last. I would give it a 9.0 out of 10.