Depending who you ask, Rocky's (1976) backstory is either a real-life Cinderella tale or a studio con job. Sylvester Stallone, struggling actor-filmmaker, sold a script about a skid row boxer for peanuts and made it into an improbable smash. True or not, Rocky spawned five sequels over thirty years, with a spin-off, Creed (2015), premiering later this month. Mawkish and riddled with clichés, it's nonetheless Stallone's crowning screen achievement.Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) aspires to be a boxer, but works as a Philadelphia mob enforcer. He romances Adrian (Talia Shire), mousy sister of boozy buddy Paulie (Burt Young) and fights semi-pro bouts on the side. He gains an improbable opportunity when champion boxer Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) taps Rocky for an exhibition bout. Reluctantly thrust into the spotlight, Rocky seizes the chance to make something of himself.
Rocky draws heavily from On the Waterfront (1954) and Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), depicting a failed fighter seeking redemption. Stallone and director John G. Avildsen mix those films with a very '70s verite feel. Rocky lives in a squalid, overstuffed apartment, works for a loan shark (Joe Spinell) and boxes in grimy gyms. For all its feel-good elements, Rocky grounds itself in reality down to its finale; Rocky realizes he can't beat Apollo, opting instead to "go the distance."
That said, Rocky's no less a fairytale for its realistic trappings: few street thugs achieve self-actualization by punching people. But then moviegoers love an underdog, even bruising, inarticulate criminals, and Rocky's improbable match with Apollo (inspired by Chuck Wepner's bout with Muhammad Ali) complements his redemption perfectly. Then again, Avildsen's debut film was Joe (1970), which made a hippie-slaughtering George Wallace fan its protagonist.It's to Stallone and Avildsen's credit that Rocky becomes both appealing and credible. He hangs around Adrian's pet shop sweet-talking her dog, and takes her on crummy dates to skating rinks. It's disarmingly sweet, their romance encouraging Rocky to follow his dreams and Adrian to break out of her shell. Their interplay informs minor characters; Mick (Burgess Meredith) the over-the-hill manager, Paulie demanding a job with Gazzo, even Apollo seeking a challenger.
Rocky isn't overly original to begin with, but its iconography inspired more parodies than Citizen Kane: Rocky drinking raw eggs, punching sides of beef, and the training montage climaxing at Philadelphia's Museum of Art. Like any great movie, Rocky's good enough to withstand imitation: Avildsen's no-frills direction, Richard Halsey's expert montage work and Bill Conti's soaring music ("Gonna fly now!") make it undeniably affecting.
In true form, the climactic bout walks a tightrope between realism and absurdity. Apollo doesn't take Rocky seriously, allowing the non-pro to gain an edge in early rounds. Rocky's main asset is being able to take repeat punches, rather than any skill. This resilience pays off; by the time Apollo unloads his full strength, he's already roughed up and worn down. This keeps the fight tense and engaging despite the rigged drama: Rocky doesn't need to win for an uplifting finale.Sylvester Stallone impressed critics enough to compare him to Marlon Brando. In fact, Stallone proved a very limited actor, and Rocky plays perfectly to his strengths. Inarticulate, rough-hewn and, his machismo masks a soft-hearted man wondering how life passed him by. Stallone performs with unusual sensitivity, allowing Rocky's core to seep through in mumbled pleasantries or bellowing rage. None of Stallone's other roles, even John Rambo and the overrated Cop Land (1997), are as heartfelt or appealing.
Talia Shire gives her best performance, selling Adrian's ugly duckling arc through quiet conviction. Quite a turn from The Godfather's shrill Mafia princess! Carl Weathers makes Apollo a smooth, charismatic showman; villain or not, he's fun to watch. Burgess Meredith earned as Oscar nod playing the grizzled trainer to the hilt. Burt Young's boorish Paulie earned him a career of character work; Joe Spinell is an affable loan shark.
Stallone repeatedly revisited Rocky, with increasingly absurd results. He became world champion, thumped Mr. T, dismantled the USSR and pommeled a fighter thirty years his junior. Yet this remains his greatest achivement: standing off Apollo, winning Adrian and proving he's not a hopeless lunkhead registers more strongly than winning the Cold War.
