Rocky Balboa

I was given the rare opportunity to go to the movies all by myself one afternoon last week. (Some people think the solo movie experience a lonely one, but for me it is the best way to take in a film.) In order to avoid future movie viewing inequities, my wife asked me to pick one that she would probably never want to see. It didn't take me long to choose Rocky Balboa (boxing + Sly Stallone + 5th sequel = Winner!)

The premise of the movie is that a computer simulation of a fight between Rocky and the current champ shows Rocky winning, which brings Rocky, now 60, out of retirement for an exhibition match.

With only one fight at the end, "Rocky Balboa" strays a bit from the formula used by most of the sequels. All except "Rocky II" had two fights to bolster weak scripts and bad acting. This story has more heart and is better acted than most of the others. The first half of the movie is a loving examination of Rocky's retired life. His beloved Adrian (Talia Shire*) has passed on, and he holds court every night in his restaurant named for her, where patrons listen to the boxer tell stories about the good old days. Paulie (Burt Young) is still around, still a mess, and often comes by Adrian's for free booze and to harass the hostess. Rocky's son, now in his twenties and surrounded by thoughtless assholes is dealing poorly with the stress of living in his father's shadow. Rocky is bored and depressed with his retirement, and after much soul searching the slugger decides he's got one fight left in him. There were at least two touching moments toward the end of the first half where I was sure it would fade to black and the inevitable training sequence would begin. I was beginning to get itchy.

I'm a sucker for the Rocky franchise, so of course as soon as the "Gonna Fly Now" trumpets did peal out those opening notes, I was rejuvenated and ready for a good ol' Rocky training sequence. I was not disappointed. You could put that music under a shot of Stallone brushing his teeth and it would inspire. Since Rocky now owns a restaurant, the unconventional training method this time is lifting and throwing a keg around**. Rocky also revisits to the meat punching and raw egg drinking from the first movie, and runs up the steps of the Philadelphia museum to jump up and down with his newly adopted old shaggy dog in his arms (that was a bit goofy).

The fight sequences are typical Rocky fare (completely fictional, rarely is a heavyweight fight that exciting), as is the course of the match. Rocky is compared to George Foreman, who fought his last fight when he was 48, but any fight fan will recognize that a 60 year old could never go 10 rounds with a reasonably fit guy in his 20's. Even bad boxing requires incredible endurance. The beating that Rocky survives in this fight is just relentless. I'm all set to suspend disbelief during a Rocky fight, so I did. A lot. But that's why we love Rock. He's got that intangible stuff. And he needs to be hit right in the face repeatedly and with deadly force until the final round to find those intangibles.

Stallone did a decent job writing and directing, he clearly loves this character and his script and acting redeem the faults of the lesser Rocky films. He also captures the feel of Philadelphia with the same sentimental rawness I remember from the original. All in all, I rank it as the third best of the Rocky movies.***

*Apparently the awful Godfather III was her last sequel, she should have chosen this movie, it was better.
**For you Rocky neophytes, each movie uses some new, unusual training method that often reflects the setting and initially makes no sense, but ultimately turns out to be a really good idea: "Rocky" - punching sides of beef in the meat packing plant where he works; "Rocky II" - chasing a chicken ; "Rocky III" - training in an inner city gym, swimming, and racing Apollo Creed on the beach in short shorts, tall socks and sleeveless belly shirts - really ; "Rocky IV" - chopping wood, carrying logs through knee deep snow, and running in the mountains somewhere in the Soviet Union; "Rocky V"- an embarrassment for everyone involved, and I can't remember - I get that one mixed up with the arm wrestling movie.
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1. Rocky
2. Rocky III
3. Rocky Balboa
4. Rocky II
5. Rocky IV
6. Rocky V