Rocky's world - a character study

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2009)

Watching Rocky I was reminded of what a former marine friend said to me once. During basic training exercises a drill instructor would tell him to do as many reps as he absolutely, possibly could do – and then do one more. It was a simple way to get across that achievement is mostly determined by mental resolve rather than physical condition.
A more well-known phrase best sums it up: a winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.
Rocky is about the personnel struggle inside to find that potential. Like any great movie, the character and setting are very specific, but anyone can relate to the message. With a down-and-out, aimless attitude, Rocky is an everyman searching for something better. He gets it by being selected for a title fight, but it is up to him to make the best of it. In this way the movie is part American dream, part Horatio Alger.
What works in the movie is the world of Rocky and Stallone's portrayal. He basically becomes Rocky, and fits right into the gritty back neighborhoods of Philadelphia. The other characters of this environment seem to be just surviving themselves. It's no wonder in the beginning Rocky feels resolved to a deterministic fate; he is surrounded by underachievers locked in their own world of perpetually blaming others for their lack of success.
But Rocky stands out, as something greater stirs within him. It takes a lucky break, an opportunistic veteran trainer, and a new love to give him something to believe in, and to jump start his "eye of the tiger" - but that's another movie.