Rocky has returned after 30 years in top form. Since the debut of the original film, the franchise has stepped further into ridiculousness with each subsequent installment. Sylvester Stallone wrote every episode and directed two through four. For years, the original looked like, at best, Stallone's single artistic idea, and at worst, a total fluke. Now at 60, Stallone goes back to the emotion of that original film and delivers a gut punch to his critics. Instead of a sad joke to close out the series, he leaves us with a sad tale about a man who rose to great heights and then life knocked him down to Earth where he will have to spend the rest of his days.
After losing all his wealth in the last film, Rocky (Stallone) has now lost his greatest love Adrian. He owns a small Italian restaurant in Philly where he retells the stories of his glory days to the customers night after night. He's very lonely, but he tries to keep up a good front with his goofy humor. However, his brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA) doesn't want to reminisce about the past, because it's too painful for him to remember how he treated his loved ones. Rocky's son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia, TV's GILMORE GIRLS) works at a stockbroker firm where the large shadow of his father is cast over him at all times.
One night, Rocky walks into a bar in his old neighborhood and finds that a young girl named Marie (Geraldine Hughes, DUPLEX), who told him off once, now is all grown up and works there. Rocky is a generous soul and decides to take Marie and her teenage son Steps (James Francis Kelly III) under his wing for no other reason than he needs a friend. To work out some of his demons, Rocky decides to step back into the ring for some local fights. However, a computer simulated fight between Rocky and the current champ Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver, former light heavyweight champion), which predicts Rocky as the winner, leads to the champ's handlers to want to cash in on the hype.
In his writing, direction and performance, Stallone shows that he has something to say and wants to present it honestly. This is a film from the heart, not the wallet. It is hard to separate the character from the actor and believe that in so many ways he's telling his own story. There are a lot of references to the first film, but not in a bad way. Stallone presents Rocky as a man who only has his past. His mind is trapped in the good old days, which have long past him. He's become a bit of a joke. He's famous, but not rich. Everyone still wants his autograph, but they laugh about him when he leaves the room. Rocky's desire to step back in the ring is more of an affirmation that he's still alive and can stand up to anything life can throw at him rather than trying to reclaim his youth.
This film has more in common with a character piece than a traditional underdog sports film. There's a great moment when Rocky gives his son a lecture; it's not an eloquent speech, but that's the character. It's the emotion underneath that's powerful and Stallone delivers the goods as an actor. It's his best performance since the original.
The only problem I had with the film was the closing fight. It's supposed to be a big HBO pay-per-view bout and it's filmed exactly like a big HBO pay-per-view bout, which robs the film of its sad, intimate quality that made the rest of the film so good. The end is too slick for its own good. The outcome of the fight was far less interesting than Rocky's journey. That journey is shadowy and depressed not bright and glitzy.
Nonetheless, the story keeps the viewer engaged, because we care about Rocky and what he's trying to prove to himself. When I first heard that Stallone was going to make this film, I smelled desperation. And I still smell desperation, but it's the kind of desperation where someone has something important to express and wants people to pay attention to him. Stallone will be remembered for this role and he has been able to bring the character's story to a soulful conclusion. The ROCKY franchise has gone through some rough patches and so has the character, but it has come full circle reminding us that its central character and its creator are no flukes.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
