Take it back, doo doo doo doo...
I saw Rocky Balboa today with my mom and my girlfriend in a theater just outside of Philly. It was the 2:35 matinee and the place, a veritable airplane hangar of a movie theater, was packed to capacity. Up in the Illadelph, I swear, it's like the man never went away.I remember we had Antonio Tarver (the former light heavyweight champ who stars in the movie as Mason Dixon) on Classic Now last year just after they'd finished shooting the film. He talked to our host, Josh Elliott, about the movie off camera, and he seemed really proud of it in a way that made me think it was going to be good. And this was at a time when the Geritol Rocky jokes were flying left and right on the tube. I wrote a few of them myself, believe me.
All jokes aside, though, I couldn't wait to see this thing, and given the reviews going in, I was prepared for it to be decent, better at least than Rockys IV and V, which as we all know were travesties. I was hoping for something that ranked with Rocky III, and in fact, I came away thinking it's a little bit better than that movie, in a minor-key sort of way. Tarver is no Clubber Lang, but hey, who is right?
One of the things you're going to dig if you're a Rocky fan is how referential Rocky Balboa is to the first movie. I don't want to spoil too much of the plot, so on that front I'll just leave you with two words - "Spider Rico" - which should say it all.
The movie also does an excellent job of capturing the pathos of the ex-athlete. In this film, the Rock owns his own restaurant in South Philly (where, as Paulie points out, "a bunch of Mexicans cook Italian food") and he spends his nights there working the floor, taking the obligatory pictures, telling the obligatory stories. He's still a hero in the eyes of his clientele, and yet long past that point in his own eyes, now just a working man trading on his past.At that level, the success of the whole Rocky enterprise lives and dies with Stallone's performance, and in this outing he's right on the mark. Whatever you think of the guy and his whole Rocky/Rambo universe, he's got this one character down perfectly with all the right touches of tragicomic earnestness and punchy insouciance. He breathes real life into the Rock for one last go-round and finishes the story with the quiet dignity it deserves. Also, Philly is once again a living character in the movie, and you know I raise my glass to that. So the No Mas card reads 8 out of 10 boxing gloves for the Rock, a winner by unanimous decision.
Rocky Balboa
In wide release
Rated PG
Starring - Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Burt Young
6 Comments:
I dunno Large, I just dunno. I haven't seen the movie so I can't offer any sort of review. But I'm turned off at the idea of watching a 5'5 60-year-old get in the ring with Antonio Tarver. When I heard that they were making ths movie I thought it was a joke. When i found out that it wasn't, I threw up in my mouth a little bit.
I realize that Rocky 5 was a piece of shit and Stallone wanted a second chance, but I'm tired of rich hollywood types always getting a second chance. Normal everyday people fuck up in their lives and jobs all the time, but they rarely get a second chance. Just because Stallone has money why should he get another chance to close the chapter on a film franchise that went on 3 films too long. There, that's my rant on a movie that I will probably never watch.
On a different note, how could you not like Rocky 4? That movie was awesome: Creed dies and Rocky travels to Siberia to avenge Creed's death, while simultaneously ending the Cold War. Other than the first one 4 is my favourite.
Four is your favorite? Yo son, we uh... we sincerely disagree on that one. To me, Rocky IV is the most cynical piece of shit Stallone concocted in his career, the point at which Rocky and Rambo became almost indistinguishable.
Just see this movie, yo, and we'll talk. I made all the jokes, I thought all the same thoughts believe me. But I'm fascinated by the plight of the ex-boxer, and this movie really gets it right. As I said, it's a minor-key affair, which I think is just the right way to take it out. It has its preposterous moments just like all of the Rocky movies, but on the whole I think it's more sincere and true to life than anything since Rocky II.
Good review, boss. I agree with you on all counts. Tell Bill Simmons to "screw off, creep-o." Looking forward to dinner at Adrian's, even if we don't have a reservation (and, for that matter, as Paulie would point out, aren't Indians.)
Obviously the first Rocky is the best, but I like 4 for the unintentional comedy. The training montage is epic. Dolph Lungren has about 3 lines in the whole movie and 2 of them are 'He will die' and 'I must break you'
And I can't stress how hillarious it is that Rocky essentially takes credit for ending the cold war.
But I agree that somewhere between Rocky 2 and 3 Rocky became a caricature of himself. I just wasn't convinced that he could bring it home in the 6th one. Are there any other movies that you've seen that successfully tell the plight of the ex-boxer?
Requiem for a Heavyweight - Anthony Quinn as a broken-down pug who takes up as a pro wrestler. Great movie.
I just watched The Great White Hope last night for the first time last night. I definitely now understand why it is so upsetting that James Earl Jones may be remembered best as a schill for Verizon. That is an incredible performance. I guess the fact that he's specialized in the kindly, omniscient black Grandpa since Field of Dreams isn't his fault because he definitely has some range.
Broken down fighter isn't the starting point of the movie, but it definitely gets to that in the end (in a Raging Bull sort of a way). In any event, most definitely worth a viewing.
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