Rocky

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a Philadelphia boxer, is but one step removed from total bum-hood. A once-promising pugilist, Rocky is now taking nickel-and-dime bouts and running strongarm errands for local loan sharks to survive. Even his supportive trainer, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), has given ...more

Rocky is an unashamed feel-good movie. It is essentially a reworking of Paddy Chayefsky's Marty, only instead of a shy butcher in a grocery, the protagonist is a shy butcher for a local loan shark. The real-life tale is now legendary -- how the struggling young writer Sylvester Stallone was in the audience for Muhammad Ali's boxing match with (reputed) mob enforcer and all-around tough guy Chuck Wepner, only to wonder if it wouldn't make a better story if the underdog weren't beaten into a ...more