Gotta Go the Distance

Sylvester Stallone is known for two major characters. One we’ve already covered: the Vietnam vet struggling with PTSD named RamboThis film and media series, based on a book by David Morrell, follows the adventures of a Vietnam veteran just trying to make his way in a world that no longer wants him.. The other, though, came first, and it was really Stallone’s passion project. The character came to life because of a screenplay Stallone wrote, and the writer/actor refused to sell the rights to the script unless he also got to play the lead role. Eventually that happened, and Stallone got to star in his breakout performance that would come to define everything that came after: Rocky Balboa, the main character of Rocky.

When you look at these two series it’s kind of funny. One is a dramatic series of films about a boxer trying to go the distance, while the other is a series of bombastic action films that couldn’t feel farther from the Philly-based exploits of Rocky Balboa. And yet, these first two films, Rocky and First Blood, are far closer in story and style than anything that came after. They both follow broken men who are just trying to find their way in the world, guys that just want to be free to be themselves even as the society around them beats them down. They want hope when, at times, it feels like none is coming for them.

Of course, Rocky is far more uplifting than First Blood, and by the end of the two films we have two very different trajectories for their franchises. Rocky does go the distance (spoilers for a fifty year old film) and ends up proving he has what it takes to be a contender (which he then goes on to prove again and again after), while John Rambo ends up sinking further into his PTSD and becomes a hollowed out shell of himself that knows nothing but fighting. Of the two it’s easy to see why Rocky still has a lot of fans out there wanting to see the character again. His story is worth watching, as this first film proves.

When we first meet Rocky Balboa (Stallone), it’s at a low-rent boxing match in a club. Rocky wins his fight, but it’s not exactly a glorious win, and while he feels like he did good, no one around him seems to give a shit. For Rocky everything goes back to normal the next day as he resumes his job as a mob enforcer, collecting cash off deadbeats that owe a bookie. He’s sweet at heart and hates hurting people, but he’s also a big guy without a lot else going on in his life, so he does the work he can while he pines for life as a professional boxer.

Things change when Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the World Heavyweight Champion, announces that he’s putting his belt on the line against a local Philly contender. And, as it so happens, Creed has decided that Rocky will be the guy he wants to fight. While it might just be a bit of a lark for Creed, Rocky sees it as the opportunity he needs to actually prove he could be a contender. With five weeks before the match, Rocky has to train as hard as he can to get into shape. This is his one chance, his big break, and if he fails here there won’t be any coming back at all.

Although this is a film about boxing, Rocky isn’t really an action film. It’s a character study about Rocky Balboa, this down-on-his-luck guy just trying to make his way in the world. He’s not too smart, but he’s got the size and bulk to handle himself, so (he reasons) he may as well use what he’s been given to make something of himself. The whole film is about him, watching him go about his life before he gets the call from Creed, and then seeing how it shifts everything for him now that he has this chance.

To be a bit nit-picky about the story, I do wish that Rocky did just a little more to earn his spot against Creed. The film plays it as sheer happenstance that Creed picks Rocky as his foe. Creed likes the optics of fighting a white Italian guy in Philly as part of his Bicentennial boxing match, and he also likes Rocky’s boxing title, “The Italian Stallion”. But there’s no connection there, no real reason for Creed to pick Rocky over anyone else. It’s just dumb luck and while it’s nice to see Rocky take the opportunity and run with it, and he certainly does put in the work after, I’ve never much liked a story that has to pivot around “random chance” to get the story going.

Rocky is a good guy. We see this in his interactions with the people in Philly, as he’s chatting and laughing and trying to be helpful. We see it even more in his interactions with Adrian (Talia Shire), the shy girl he likes. He’s sweet to her (although we’ll get back to this in a second) and it helps to soften his character and bring us into his story. He’s not a tough guy, even if he is built like one, so we do feel for him when he’s given this chance. We’re happy for him that he has this opportunity. I just wish it wasn’t quite so random in the film.

Still, from about the halfway point forward the film does invest deeply in Rocky’s rise. He goes from “just a bum” on the streets of Philly to someone everyone knows, a local hero that’s going to show he can win. What the film gets right, though, is that even with this grand opportunity, and the meteoric rise that comes with it, Rocky never loses sight of himself. He’s a sweet, maybe a little dumb, guy at the start of the film and at the end, after he’s gone the distance and finished out the match, he’s a sweet, maybe a little dumb, guy at the end of it. Things have changed for Rocky but he hasn’t become someone unrecognizable. This is the story of a rise, not a fall, and that helps to keep the movie uplifting.

Stallone is great in the role. While he’d been in a number of roles before this film (we’ll just point over at Death Race 2000), this was his mainstream, breakout hit, and there’s no denying that Stallone made the most of it. He wanted to be a dramatic actor, despite his size, and this character perfectly suited everything that Stallone could bring to a performance. Shy, funny, self-effacing, but with enough depth that you could easily see so much more going on. This film is about Rocky, but really it’s about Stallone as, just like the character, the actor was looking for his one big chance to break out and show who he could be. Stallone is so committed here because this was his chance. This was it, and he’s fully invested.

With that said, there is one sequence that doesn’t really play well anymore (if it ever did at all). Rocky convinces Adrian, after their first date, to come back to his place. She’s uncomfortable, and she says she wants to go, but he doesn’t let her leave, eventually kissing her while she resists. The film plays it as her eventually giving in, realizing what she wants and that she needs to stop fighting… but it still feels a little bad, like he’s forcing himself on her. After this scene, they’re together and Adrian seems perfectly happy with him, but I do wish that the movie could have spent a little more time developing these two, maybe letting her take the first kiss so that this sequence felt more comfortable and less like date rape.

I know people are going to say it was a different time, and films were made differently. Sure. That doesn’t change the context of this scene, it only colors it some. This whole movie is very deeply rooted in 1976, but most of it works because there’s a timeless quality to it. The fashion feels different, and the technology is old, but the story transcends… most of the time. Sequences like the first date at Rocky’s place, though, feel very rooted in the past, and they’re the kinds of small scenes that remind you that we have moved on and, hopefully, we are better in our stories (and in our interactions with each other).

Still, for the most part this film does hold up. Rocky is an easy character to invest in, and Stallone plays him so well. You want to see Rocky succeed, and you’re happy when he gets everything he wants. A few flaws hang on the film, but they don’t completely ruin it. And it’s easy to see how this film could be a massive success and launch an entire franchise. Rocky Balboa is a great character and, after this one film, you want to go on and see him continue to do great things.