Fight Films: Rocky
It’s frequently said that every boxer has a story worth telling; perhaps that’s why the Sweet Science has been portrayed on film with greater frequency than any other sport. With so many movies out there about the sport it’s hard to know what to watch and what to avoid, especially if you’re serious about the sport. Hopefully we can bring you some clarity on that front going forward with our new weekend review column Fight Films.
When we decided to expand our coverage only two movies were considered for the inaugural edition. But with all due respect to Raging Bull, few characters in cinema history are as beloved as Rocky Balboa and no film is more associated with a sport or a city than the original Rocky. The image above of Sylvester Stallone on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum is one of the most enduring in American culture. Rocky is the epitome of what a sport movie should be.
The story is familiar to any fight can or casual student of pop culture, but those that haven’t watched the whole film recently may be surprised as how much they’ve forgotten. Rocky Balboa is a club fighter in Philadelphia, a 30-year-old journeyman heavyweight and self-proclaimed ham-and-egger forced to break thumbs for a local loan shark just to make rent. Despite his dire circumstances Rocky is refreshingly sincere and artless, particularly during his persistent courtship of Adrian (Talia Shire).
Boxing is more of a hobby than occupation for Balboa, until a late scratch leaves heavyweight champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) without an opponent for the bicentennial celebration in Philly. With no legitimate contenders willing to take the fight on five weeks’ notice, Creed proposes fighting a local, white underdog in a stroke of marketing genius. Balboa is chosen for no other reason than his ethnicity and colorful moniker: “The Italian Stallion.”
The abridged narrative of what comes next involves scenes still more iconic than any actual footage of the sport: Rocky drinking raw eggs, Rocky running through the streets of Philly, Rocky punishing a side of beef instead of a heavy bag, and Rocky giving Creed everything he can handle in the ring. But what makes the payoff so satisfying eventually is the time and care paid to emphasize just how much of an underdog Balboa is heading into the fight.
Stallone’s performance as a downbeat fighter coming to grips with the reality of his life carries the movie; his simultaneous frustration at his circumstances and optimism about making something of his life is endearing. While the series is often criticized by boxing purists for depicting the sport unrealistically, the most striking aspect of the original is how little imagination was needed. Balboa’s story is not that fantastic, or even unique. Such men populate gyms across the country even today.
Stallone was reportedly inspired to write the movie after seeing Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Weppner in 1975, but he could have just as easily been pouring his own life onto the page. Like Rocky, Stallone had little to his name at the time, despite some obvious physical talent. He had been forced to do things he didn’t want to in order to survive, even sleeping in a bus station for several weeks in XXXXX. What makes the movie believable is how real the scenes feel as Rocky is strolling through the neighborhood. Few ask about his fights and no one shows up. He has been written off by everyone including his own trainer Mack, tossed aside like many others from a neighborhood that swallows dreams.
Even when fate tosses Rocky a colossal bone in the form of a world title shot and $150,000, his initial refusal is both understandable and correct for followers of the sport. While the movie is fiction, the idea of bringing in a soft touch with some sort of name as a late replacement for an established fighter is sadly all too common. At its core Rocky is a movie about an opponent, a fighter brought in to lose. His refusal to do so quietly has become emblematic of our national preference for the underdog.
Once Creed comes calling the vultures predictably swoop; the scene between Rocky and Mack and his bitterness towards the old trainer makes their subsequent relationship in future movies that much more meaningful. Balboa’s rage at Mack’s opportunism is one of the most genuine moments of the fight. He reveals both his long-simmering resentment as well as the fear that lingers beneath of what may transpire in the ring.
We know at that moment that Rocky has taken the fight but knows he cannot win. Which makes his decision to arise the next morning and go to work that much more meaningful. To some extent, it doesn’t really matters how he performs. He is only there to have his face beat in. But he knows that ultimately how he takes his shot will linger with him forever and he isn’t content to be simply a bit player in his own story.
My favorite scene, and probably many others, is the night before the fight when lying in bed, being held by Adrian Rocky admits that he has no chance. The palpable fear for his health, his life and his self-image are familiar to anyone that has stepped into the ring. XXXX said that all fighters are terrified before they get into the ring; the best simply realize their opponents are equally scared and use that fear against them. Another fictional badass, Eddard Stark noted that the when someone is scared is the only time they can be brave.
When Rocky tells Adrian he wants to go the distnace with Apollo, it is not some cliched underdog settle-for-less. It is something greater. He wants to do what no one has done before and in the process prove to himself that he is not bum. To translate this into modern terms, we’re talking about Todd “White Lightning” Wilson fighting Manny Pacquiao. Lasting a single round would be a feat.
The actual fight scenes are somewhat superfluous in our view and justifiably criticized from a fight choreography perspective. The idea is clear: Creed is dominating but Rocky refuses to give him and punches hard enough to cause serious body damage.
As someone that recently has taken up boxing despite pushing 30 myself, there is so much about Rocky’s story that is admirable. But the most inspiring aspect is that scene of him waking up, swallowing his eggs and then dragging himself, cramps and all, up the stairs. None of us knows what will happen when you step inside those ropes. Some of us do it despite realizing we face in surmountable deficits in talent, speed and strength. The only thing we can do is lace up our shoes and begin training in hopes the protection it provides will prove sufficient. But the desire to start can come from nowhere but yourself. America is a nation built upon the perception of self-determination. Rocky is just one of the latest and best-known forms of that mythology, with Stallone following in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin in perpetuating that myth.