Rock(y) bottom

Rating: 3/10 (3 September 2017)

How this movie won 3 Oscars (best movie, best director and best editing) is beyond my comprehension. It has only two combats, at the beginning and the end, and badly done. The rest of the 2 hours is to see Stallone stroll around the neighborhood, putting up with his boring and unbearable best friend Paulie and trying to woo Paulie's vapid sister, Adrian, between takes that are too long of his training sessions. Meanwhile, we do not see his opponent Apollo training once, but I still have my doubts if that alone would be enough to give Rocky a remote chance to stand up to the final gong, since he only had just a month to prepare against an adversary totally above his league.
I think this movie appeals to so many people for being a "David vs Goliath" tale and for conveying the false hopeful message that a nobody can, through much effort, win the lottery, which is what happened to Rocky when "chosen" for the heavyweight final. The movie is very slow and boring. The dialogue is the most basic I have ever seen, but it gives me the impression that this was on purpose to further depress the caricatures of neighborhood' people (probably the masses review themselves in this - and I'm not trying to be condescending here since I myself come from a low income social class!!!). The only positive point is Stallone's portrayal - probably the highest point of his career here - conveying some life and credibility to his character, who seems a bit inspired by Marlon Brando's interpretation in "On the Waterfront", but while Brando had the pigeons, Rocky has little turtles.