Shadows on the Wall | I Play Rocky

I Play Rocky

dir Peter Farrelly
scr Peter Gamble
prd Christian Baha, Toby Emmerich, Peter Farrelly, Paul Currie, Michele Weiss
with Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, PJ Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Matt Dillon, Stephan James, Kiki Seto, Robert Morgan, Scot Teller, J Nycole Ralph
release US 13.Nov.26,
UK 20.Nov.26
26/US 2h08

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Recreating the scrappy underdog energy from the 1976 classic Rocky, this biopic traces how that classic was made in a way that's thoroughly engaging, even if it never tries to dig too deeply beneath the skin. Not only is it a remarkable account of how Sylvester Stallone managed to get the movie made, but it's also an entertaining glimpse behind the scenes of one of Hollywood's biggest surprises.

As a struggling actor-screenwriter in the early 1970s, Sylvester (Ippolito) moves from New York to Los Angeles with his wife Sasha (Robb). An introduction to producers Irwin Winkler (Byrne) and Robert Chartoff (Kebbell) gets his foot in the door, and they love his script for Rocky. The studio head (Letts) wants an established star in the title role, but Sylvester stubbornly insists that he wrote it for himself. Eventually, director John Avildsen (Duplass) comes on board and agrees to make the film for a fragment of the budget so that Sylvester can play the role.

Fascinating details hold the interest, from inspiration to negotiations to the unconventional way Rocky was shot. These textures pull us into a story about a group of people doing whatever they could to get the project made. At the centre, Sylvester's tenacity and sometimes outsized dedication provide a terrific parallel with Rocky's story, as both are outsiders simply trying to do what they do best.

In a demanding role, Ippolito's remarkably complex performance goes beyond the strong physical resemblance. He skilfully captures the deep thinker inside a man who comes across as a street thug, and the way he catches everyone off guard on-screen echoes how we react too. He also finds terrific nuances in scenes with a likeable Robb as the smart Sasha, as well as with Seto as Talia Shire on-set. Byrne and Kebbell are a terrific double act circling around him, while Duplass brings a breath of fresh energy all his own. And Letts steals every scene as the cynical exec.

It seems a bit odd that this film's themes are virtually identical to Rocky's, following a tenacious, underestimated underdog as he takes on a system that's tilted against him and then achieves something beyond what he hoped. Perhaps a more nuanced script could have explored some of the stories thornier edges. But while this movie never feels particularly adventurous, it expertly holds the interest. And right on cue, with that iconic theme music, it gets us cheering all over again.

themes, language, violence 23.Sep.26

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