CHILDHOOD FAVORITE HOLDS UP

"Rocky" (1976) -- 9/10

By Martin Zabell
(Wrote Nov. 7, 2007)

As a teen, "Rocky" was my favorite movie. It was, in fact, the first movie I saw without my parents. In college, I ran up the Philadelphia Museum of Art's stairs a la Rocky.

The David vs. Goliath theme is so appealing to a student that I thought over the years that I probably overrated the movie and ignored many of its flaws. That judgment was reinforced by my knowing that endless sequels had made Rocky a caricature and Sylvester Stallone did not become a quality actor. In retrospect, I thought the characters were too broad and stereotypical.

A few days ago, I analyzed the movie for the first time. I was stunned. I completely forgot how good the beginning of the movie was!! Director John Avildsen did a superb job of conveying the grittiness of Rocky's Philadelphia neighborhood and the sadness and despair of his life. I was interested in the character from the start as he fights for a $50 prize, roams the neighborhood alone, and is thrown out of his locker because he failed to fulfill his potential.

Stallone is outstanding portraying Rocky as tough and dumb, but likable. He refuses to break the thumbs of a man who could not pay his loan shark boss and tries to help a man lying in the street and a troubled girl. Frankly, I did not recall the depth of Rocky's kind-hearted tough guy character.

I didn't forget the excellent conflicts and dialogues between the major characters – Rocky, girlfriend Adrian, her brother, manager Mickey, and boxing champ Apollo Creed. However, the scenes depicting Rocky and Adrian's first date were even better than I recalled because Talia Shire is very convincing portraying a woman afraid to be with a man and Stallone's pangs of loneliness on Thanksgiving and awkwardness around women are very endearing.

I must admit, though, that I recalled Rocky's rejection of Mickey's offer to manage him as a dialogue. In fact, it was two monologues – and the movie's best scene. Each monologue brilliantly captured the talker's frustration that no one had ever helped him achieve his goals. Mickey spoke first, begging Rocky for a chance at age 76. Rocky responded by essentially kicking him out of his apartment and venting at a door. The scene meant more to me in middle age than it did as a teen.

But, "Rocky" is definitely flawed. I found Adrian's post-first date transformation from a near mute afraid to enjoy life to a vibrant, articulate woman now that she no longer wears glasses as absurd as I did in 1976. And how did her vision improve? Contact lenses were costly then.

There are two boxing-related flaws that I didn't notice in 1976. One is that I've always thought the match was on July 4 and Rocky trained like a maniac for seven months. Since the match was on Jan. 1, his transformation into a freakishly-conditioned Superman is less plausible.

I've also always thought that Creed won easily because the announcers were astonished that Rocky stayed on his feet. I never noticed that the result was actually a 2-1 decision. The focus at the end of the movie was rightly Rocky lasting 15 rounds and then looking for Adrian rather than listening to the result. The fact that the match was actually close detracts from the excellent ending.

"Rocky II" was pointless. "Rocky III" was better than "II," but essentially about a celebrity that I didn't care much about. I never watched the others, but it's refreshing to know that the first "Rocky" was as good as I remembered it. I gave it a 9.