What a comeback. I'm not only referring to Rocky Balboa, who at sixty years of age stands toe to toe with an undefeated heavyweight champion, but his portrayer and creator, Sylvester Stallone. After years of big-budget bombs and straight to video embarrassments, Stallone has returned to the character that made him famous with "Rocky Balboa", and although it moves at a slow pace through familiar territory, he has never given a more powerful performance.
We are reintroduced to Rocky, who runs a restaurant where the crowds come to hear fight stories and get a picture with the boxing legend. He takes a remembrance tour of his past; the gym he trained in, the pet store where he met his late wife Adrian, the ruins of the ice skating rink where they went on their first date. Cantankerous brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young) bitterly chastises him for dwelling in years past, but as an athlete, aging is doubly painful for Rocky. Not only does he see the world he knew leaving him in the dust, but his viability as a fighter, his very identity, does as well.
At least it does until an ESPN computer simulation predicts a Rocky in his prime the winner in a match versus Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), the undefeated reigning champ. Dixon, a man much hated amongst boxing fans for always smashing his opponents to pieces in the first few rounds, is propelled by his publicity starved managers to fight Rocky in an exhibition (or as an announcer calls it, an execution).
Rocky knows the odds are more stacked against him than ever, and that he has again become the butt of the sports world’s joke. During a recent Q&A on Ain’t It Cool News, Stallone remarked that the maturity of entering old age granted him the wisdom to pen "Rocky Balboa", and it shows. The skepticism directed towards Stallone appears in the story, Rocky’s determination to prove himself undoubtedly imitating life. Can Rocky really step into the ring one last time, and can Stallone resurrect his faltering film legacy?
Stallone tackles these questions head on. While the film never does quite convince us that this match would be realistic in either setup or result, it wisely addresses the improbabilities at hand. Rocky’s training focuses on building strength, as his body has long past the point of being quick enough to match a much younger man. He has to plead with the boxing commission simply to obtain his license. When the fight finally rolls around, Rocky doesn’t improbably use his fighting prowess to mop the ring with Dixon, but holds firm and waits for his chance to score solid hits. Dixon may be the competition, but Rocky’s real fight is with life itself.
Stylistically, "Rocky Balboa" bears resemblance to the first film more than any of the four sequels. A newcomer to the series could easily watch the first film and skip to this one and have little trouble following along. The sequels that turned the underdog Rocky into a comic book superhero are virtually ignored altogether (particularly the truly crappy "Rocky V"), except for the somewhat stale scenes involving Rocky Jr. (Milo Ventimiglia), who idiotically whines about having a famous father (he should imagine how OJ Simpson’s children must feel). Even the haymaker-laden matches of the preceding films, the ones that would likely render a prime athlete brain-dead after one round, are traded for a more realistic form that would only achieve the same result in about six rounds.
In a throwback to the original, Rocky strikes up a friendship with Marie (Geraldine Hughes), the little girl who repaid his attempted good deed with an insult in the first installment. And yes, there is a montage, and yes, it is just as effective of a blatant manipulation as an audience could hope for.
Both character and creator make a statement about standing proudly against the flow of time and pursuing one’s goals regardless of what others say. Not everyone gets a second chance, or even a first, but a film like this argues that determination and willpower are what is really needed. Coming in late in the year amidst a host of Christmas tripe, "Rocky Balboa" emerges as the best crowd pleaser of 2006.
4 out of 5
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