11 Step Breakdown

Rating: 9/10 (19 March 2008)

Eleven Step Breakdown 1. Rocky's overall want is respect. 2. Rocky logically goes for it. a. Rocky fights as often as he can to earn money and respect. b. He also works as a muscle for a Philadelphia loan shark, Gazzo. c. He makes up jokes to attempt to win Adrian over, his love interest. d. Tries to be a role model for the community. 3. He is denied  a. Mickey Goldmill, his trainer, tosses him out of his locker at his gym. b. Rocky is chastised for not breaking the thumbs of a guy he is collecting from. c. Adrian is very shy and doesn't respond to his advances. d. Walks home with a younger girl and offers advice on how to get a better life and get off the streets, and she responds "Screw you, creep-o!" 4. Rocky gets a second opportunity when Apollo Creed, boxing champion, handpicks Rocky for a shot at the World Heavyweight Title. 5. Rocky is conflicted. He believes he has not shot at the title, and could never stand toe to toe with the champion. Rocky has no manager and doesn't want to be made a fool on national television. 6. Rocky knows he can't turn down what may be the only shot of his life. He accepts the challenge. 7. All goes well for Rocky for a while.
a. Mickey offers to manage him.
b. He begins training (classic raw eggs scene and training montage).
c. Adrian comes around and they get along well. The have a Thanksgiving date at the local ice rink.
d. Philadelphia starts watching him train and supporting him.
e. Does a television interview.
f. Gazzo gives him money for training expenses.
g. Rocky's purse for the fight is $150,000. 8. Things Falls Apart
a. Paulie goes on a Christmas rant, kicks out Adrian and Rocky.
Other than this scene, the movie is a build up to the fight sequence. 9. a. The crisis I think is three fold. The peak of his training would be the big training montage, being pushed harder than ever before to get into the best shape of his life. The sequence is filled with one arm push-ups, cross town running, chicken chasing, and a run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
b. There is also a critical mental point, Rocky goes into the venue the night before the fight. The fight promoter comes out and Rocky tells him the color of his boxing trunks on the giant banner is wrong, the promoter responds "It doesn't really matter does it."
c. The final spoken crisis comes during morning of the fight, Rocky tells Adrian he can't beat Apollo. He says all he wants to do is go the distance, and still be standing at the end of the fight. "Then I'll know for the first time in my life, I wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood". 10. The climax is the championship fight. 11. Truth Comes Out  Rocky goes the distance and Adrian says she loves him. He has earned the respect of his city and the world. Now to the hospital to rest up for five more films based on the same formula! He has become a success.