Rocky Balboa
Sylvester Stallone has had an interesting career. Often lampooned as an actor, Sly has maintained a dignity about him that comes across in many of his roles. His directorial talents are even more suspect, as he has directed Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Staying Alive, Rocky 4, and finally Rocky Balboa. The hype continues with Stallone, as he’s the director and star of the upcoming Rambo film. For those into nostalgia, Stallone is your guy. I’m happy to report that Rocky Balboa, the 2006 return to the fabled Rocky franchise of films, is a very good film and is easily the best of the series, with measured exception given to the 1976 original which I have not seen in years.
It may not sound like much of a feat for Rocky Balboa to be a greater film than some of the goofball films in the series, but it’s hard to put some clarity on to this without doing Stallone a great injustice. In my view, Stallone has a great deal of talent both in front of the camera and behind the camera. He gets to demonstrate this to the best of his ability thus far with Rocky Balboa and he makes use of every angle, every line, and every moment he has. In many ways, it seems as though the plot in the film parallels the experience of Stallone behind the camera. It seems like it’s a million to one shot and, luckily, it’s a knockout punch.
Stallone decided to do Rocky Balboa after admitting that he was “negligent” in the production of Rocky 5, which was a film that left him and many fans of the series feeling disappointed. So, Rocky Balboa came out of it and the sixth film in the franchise was born out of a desire to close the hero’s tale off in the best possible fashion. As a meditation on Rocky the character, it is beautiful. It works even better, however, as a film about aging and the relationships between men as they reach the understanding of their existence. It’s a film about purpose and living it out, regardless of the odds or the opinions. For that reason alone, Rocky Balboa becomes a very poignant film.
Essentially, we pick up with Rocky Balboa (Stallone, of course) living in Philadelphia. The shots of Philadelphia are gorgeous and really add a depth, making the city a character all on its own and giving the story richness. Rocky has left boxing, of course, and is now retired. He runs a small Italian restaurant that bases much of its business on Rocky’s legacy. He visits with the customers, night after night, and regales the patrons with stories from the ring. Rocky has recently lost Adrian, his wife, to cancer and is struggling to come to terms with the next path in his life. He is weak, but far from broken, and the mental struggles that exist as reminders of his past are clear on Rocky’s worn face and in his voice. Stallone plays this perfectly, giving a wonderful and understated performance as Balboa.
Rocky’s constant companion is Paulie (Burt Young), Adrian’s brother. With Paulie by his side, Rocky moves through his life with the memories of Adrian and a distant relationship with his son (Milo Ventimiglia) as his only companions. Rocky’s son, Robert, is attempting to carve out a career of his own as a businessman, but he constantly lives in the shadow of his father’s legacy in the ring. This causes strain in the relationship between father and son, a strain that is eventually utilized as a catalyst for both men. As the story goes on, Rocky meets “Little Marie,” a character from the 1976 film who is all grown up. Rocky and Marie (Geraldine Hughes) begin a relationship that isn’t quite romantic, but is more that of Rocky serving as Marie’s protector and helping her with her son (James Francis Kelly III).
With this tapestry as the background to Rocky’s life, a challenge emerges as an ESPN broadcast hypothesizes about Rocky going up against the current undefeated champion of boxing, a fight who gets no respect named Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver). Dixon is looking for a way to gain respect from the fans and in the ring, as many people chide him for merely taking “easy fights” and winning decisively against other fighters considered to be way out of his league. With nobody left to fight and with Rocky pushing for a return to the ring (although Rocky simply wants to fight some “small fights”), Dixon and his management team coerce Rocky into an exhibition fight. Of course, the boxing world goes crazy for it and Rocky is given a chance to test himself against the current best in the world.
Rocky Balboa is a film about making it through and accomplishing goals. Rocky does not take the fight with Dixon to win the fight or prove himself as a winner. Rocky takes the fight with Dixon to prove it to himself that he can last and that he can take the punches thrown by Dixon (and life) and still keep coming. This is evidenced with the ending, as Rocky and his crew leave the ring quickly before the results are read. This ending is parallel to the ending in Rocky from 1976, as Rocky simply searches for Adrian while the ring announcer reads the results. In both films, the end results are not the motivation for his actions. He has, instead, a higher purpose here.
The boxing scenes were likely the most realistic of any of the Rocky films, which is a match to the film’s more realistic and stoic tone. Stallone is really good here, as mentioned, and the supporting cast comes together nicely as well. There are a few wandering moments in the film, as though Stallone has taken on a bit too much, but nothing suffers significantly from this and the film, as a whole, is highly entertaining and uplifting. Rocky Balboa is a memorable and meaningful way to close out one of America’s greatest underdog stories. I, for one, am now looking forward to 2008′s Rambo with some excitement.
Trailer:
