Should've Stopped at Four

Rating: 3/10 (23 February 2020)

Adrian (Talia Shire) was everywhere in this movie playing mother hen. My word, Rocky could barely have a conversation without Adrian popping up to make sure hubby doesn't get hurt. First, she was worried and upset that he may continue boxing, then she was upset that he was trainer. I don't think she was happy once the entire movie. She had a perpetual look of concern like Rocky was on the edge of death.
Though Rocky didn't get back into the ring he was convinced to be a trainer by a young and hungry boxer named Tommy "the Machine" Gunn, played by real life boxer Tommy Morrison. The portrayal is that Rocky was an absentee father as he ignored his own son in lieu of Tommy Gunn. Or you can just say that his son was fragile. I prefer the latter narrative. If I crumbled everytime my dad was working or taking care of something instead of listening to my story I'd still be in pieces. And if I ever talked to my dad the way Bobby talked to his dad I'd be in pieces and six feet under.
"Rocky" was a lot better when Rocky's struggles were with himself and his opponent. Now he has a fragile and ungrateful son and a Worry Wanda as a wife who's even more worried than she was in movies past. I guess when you get five installments into a franchise ideas get stale because the plot was asinine and the climax was a joke.
You mean to tell me that immediately after a title fight the champ along with his rich promoter and a camera crew are all going to drive to the streets of Philly to challenge a retired boxer to a fight? And sure enough Rocky gets pulled into a street brawl when Tommy punched Paulie (Burt Young). And, to top it all off, somehow the filming is a live broadcast that Adrian sees so she can run down there to watch Rocky. Honestly, if Rocky was even a little smart he would've accepted a fight in the ring to get paid for getting punched in the face.
As sleazy and underhanded as the promoter George Duke (Richard Gant) was, he was right about making money. I don't even blame Tommy for signing with Duke in a sense. Boxers, like all athletes, have a limited shelf life and they have to get paid as much as possible during their short career. Like Isaiah Thomas said about playing in the NBA, "We play for championships and to make as much money as we can," and I don't blame them.

The movie was accurate on one point... well two. George W. Duke (Richard Gant) resembled the sleazy Don King. And secondly, Tommy Morrison was a bum. He was a flash in the pan that never accomplished anything in the ring. Now he's never accomplished anything on screen either.