Rocky (1976)
Written by Sylvester Stallone
Directed by John G. Avildsen
To get right to the point, this was a film I was dreading on this list. I’m just not a fan of sports films (even if the primary focus isn’t on the sport itself). I’m not really a “sports guy” anyway, so watching a film about sports just doesn’t do it for me. So, I do humbly admit that Rocky did exceed my expectations, although still not enough to make me want to watch the (approximately) 87 sequels.
But, I’m jumping ahead. 49 films in, and we get our next “first”: the first Sports Film of the list. Like the Western, this doesn’t seem to be a genre that’s much loved by the Academy (by my count, I see two, maybe three more on the list). As I’m not a fan of either genre, it’s fine by me, but it does begin to make one wonder about bias from the Academy (which is frequently brought up around awards-season: the Academy loves a good drama). Rocky IS about boxing, but there’s also a character study woven throughout, even if it’s somewhat annoying to experience.
Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) and his trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith)
Before I get into the film itself, I need to know, from someone(s) who lived through the ‘70’s: why is EVERYTHING filthy? No matter what city these films have taken place in, there’s trash everywhere and everything looks grimy, gritty, and run down. I know there’s probably a lot of varied, interwoven reasons, but if someone could break it down for me, that’d be great, because these films are AWFUL to look at.
I want to focus on the characters for a bit. While the relationship between them is sweet, I honestly couldn’t stand either Rocky or Adrian. Besides barely being able to decipher any words mumbling out of Rocky’s mouth, he just says the same things over and over again. I’m curious if this is 1) a deliberate choice, to show the effects of boxing, 2) a deliberate choice to show Rocky’s nervousness, 3) a non-deliberate choice because Stallone was nervous, or 4) a non-deliberate choice because Stallone isn’t a good writer. Whatever the case, it was grating to hear the same dialogue said over and over in a single scene.
(A note on Stallone as a writer: I knew going into the film that Stallone had written it, but I didn’t need that knowledge to 100% know that this was written by a man. The scene in which Rocky brings Adrian to his (disgustingly filthy) apartment (SERIOUSLY 1970’S CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF) is 1) 100% chock full of STRANGER DANGER vibes and 2) includes the dialogue “I want to kiss you. You don’t have to kiss me back” AS HE HAS HER PINNED UP AGAINST A WALL. I get it, things have changed in 40 years, but COME ON.)
Adrian (Talia Shire) and Rocky (Stallone)
Adrian isn’t much better, spending the first half of the film just being...awkward? There’s a part of me that never really buys their relationship, because I never really see a reason for either of them to be together. It IS nice to see Adrian break out from under her brother’s oppressive treatment of her, and the scene where she confronts him about it is a great scene, but it was honestly the only scene in which I cared about her.
Overall, as I said, I was impressed by the film, but as I expected absolute garbage, I suppose that isn’t saying much. I still don’t think it’s a great film, but it is an adequate one, and I appreciate that there’s more to the story than just the boxing (but, to be fair, there’s a lot of boxing).
Also, I was very disappointed to learn that “Eye of the Tiger” is, in fact, from Rocky III, not this film. Sad day.
FINAL GRADE: C
