What I Rented - Rocky Balboa

“I think you try a little harder when you’re scared,” says Rocky right before the climactic bout of Rocky Balboa. Coming from Stallone, who hasn’t had a hit film in nearly a decade, that line is the key to understanding the entire Rocky franchise.

These are the movies that Stallone has invested his heart and soul into over the years, and the best ones are the ones he had to fight for. At times it’s become impossible to separate the actor from the character. The story of Stallone refusing the big paycheck because he had to star in the first Rocky movie is now legendary, and it’s his guttural, wounded performance, that made the first movie so compelling. He might not be the greatest actor in the world, but it’s almost impossible to find someone who invested more of himself in a role than Stallone did in Rocky. He risked everything, and you can feel the fear pushing him; allowing him to tap into dark, uncomfortable corners of his psyche.

But, the first movie was huge, and Stallone became an overnight success story. Fame, fortune, and plenty of jobs followed, and the Rocky sequels never felt as urgent or insightful as the first one (when Stallone stopped being the underdog, the character stopped being an underdog)…until this one.

Rocky Balboa isn’t a great film (we have seen the same story five times before after all), but boy does Stallone inject it with an enormous amount of passion. This movie works primarily because Stallone is taking a risk again and you can feel the fear pushing him. If Rocky Balboa fails his career is over!

To make it work he goes back to the basics, and using his own experience as an aging action star, writes a simple, but honest script. Sure it resolves some of the conflicts a little too easily (one simple speech is enough to transform Rocky’s son into a thoughtful kid), but Stallone sells even the most unabashedly emotional moments with a wonderfully sincere performance.

The fact that the first hour barely touches on boxing, but is still compelling says a lot about how much time and effort went into creating a movie with characters worth investing in. Rocky finds himself trying to help out a single mother and her kid while his own son tries to distance himself further and further from the Balboa name. It’s low key and charming; everything the sequels tossed aside.

The plot doesn’t offer too many surprises, but because the characters are at the forefront, the final fight is still an edge of your seat bout. This movie ends the series in the best possible way, and once again it’s nice to root for the underdog; both Balboa and Stallone.

***1/2 out of 4 (it should really just be ***, but dagnabbit sometimes you just want to give the underdog a ½ star more)