Current Events > I just saw Rocky 1 for the first time. What a great movie *spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Aspects of the movie are uncomfortable to watch, like the earlier Adrian stuff. That scene where he's like goading her to come into his apartment, and then she's in there and she's uncomfortable, and she goes to leave and Rocky blocks the door shut... it's a pretty big "yikes" moment. And then he's like "I'mma kiss you, you can kiss me back if you want but I'mma kiss you" - it's rough watching. Fair for its day maybe, but definitely a bit much 44 years later.

Like, on the off chance that she wasn't interested in him - or interested, but not ready to take such a big step - that's a really worrying scene. Rocky doesn't want to take "no" for an answer, he's not a bad guy so he's not like out to hurt her, but him being that oblivious is just really uncomfortable to watch.

Saying that, the relationship between Adrian and Rocky is one of the best parts of the movie. I like Adrian's character arc, eventually standing up to Paulie like she does and moving in with Rocky. Paulie is just kind of an ugly character all around, he gets a moment of levity but all he seems to do is sponge off of Rocky and live on the good graces of his sister, who's too timid and cowed to stand up to him. In a way, they're all losers on skid row, but Paulie seems especially bad - taking belts of scotch at work, ruining Adrian's turkey, smashing up his house with a bat. It's really uncomfortable.

Rocky was a surprise. I've seen some of the later Rocky movies, and at a point he turns into a bit of a cartoon character. But in this movie, he's played in a very quirky and understated way. I was wondering why he liked that hat in Creed, because I'm used to the regular-ass Rocky Balboa cut - why's Rocky wearing that dumb-ass fedora? Well, here it is. He's living for the next fight, but he has a life outside of the ring. Like damn, he's a loan shark basically - he goes around extorting people for money. He knows people, he walks around at night. He's a part of a community.

He's got this rubber ball that he bounces around, whether it's to keep him sharp for his next fight or if it's just something he has around for the sake of having it around, I don't know. He's always punching in his spare time, like boxing's always on his mind, to the point where it feels like a compulsion or a tic. Rocky's a real oddball in this movie, from the way he talks to the way he moves. And he's treated like an oddball too, the announcers make cracks at his Italian heritage and sledge him because he's not so photogenic. He's actually believable as this offbeat down-and-outer who never had a good opportunity in his life.

And this movie's training montage - it's famous for a reason. It's considered cliche nowadays, played for laughs because we've all seen the serious attempts to ape off of it as well as all the corny joke versions. But this movie plays it so straight and so earnestly, it's legitimately good. The only thing holding this cliche down is that you have to believe that the character wants it, and you can't just fast track the entire training process into the montage. And what's more, it feels like Rocky starts a lot of sport movie cliches that a lot of lesser movies ape off of - they shine through so earnestly here where they've been driven into the mud by tons of shitty imitations.

It might be because I saw Walk the Line tonight with a friend of mine - which is also a movie with an uncomfortable romantic angle to it, except Rocky is arguably better about it - but I couldn't help but think of all the shitty "inspirational" biopics I've seen over the course of my life, or even just regular sport movies. I've seen movies that couldn't make a portrayal of a real sportsman as relatable as Rocky, or make me want to root for them. They're either cut down with cliches that are too on the nose for their own good, or they're turned into a bumbling jackass to make them "likeable". It's all so phony and fake. Rocky is a fictional character, and his journey by that definition is phony and fake, but it doesn't feel that way.

I actually want to root for Rocky because you spend so much time in his shoes, witnessing his life - his growth as a person and as an athlete actually means something, because you see into his life so intimately, not just by getting the cliff notes version of his life from birth to now. It's not about the sport, it's not about a bunch of hackneyed likeable character tropes that all these shitty fucking facsimiles of real people all seem to share - it's about Rocky as a character.

And he's an oddball, and he's rough around the edges - telling a local girl not to develop a bad reputation lest guys start calling her a whore, collecting money for a loan shark, breaking a padlock off a locker with a fire extinguisher because he can't open it. To this day, character movies are either self-deprecating comedic fluff, or they're filled with this laundry list of "likeable character traits" to try and win the audience over, even after the last 50 leading men played the exact same beats. Rocky's an oddball, and he takes a while to grow on you. Just watching him and getting to know him makes that moment where he clicks all the more satisfying.

Rocky was a good movie. I can't say that I liked most of the characters - I relate the most to Adrian, and I'm glad she was able to stand up for herself in the end and find happiness instead of wasting away in a house caring for her alcoholic brother. But the way Rocky's played in this movie was an unexpected treat. I think Rocky and Mick will have a better dynamic in 2, so I'm gonna hold off on that for a while. And Apollo Creed, while a bit hamfisted in places, was an interesting character to see in the background, doing his business and refusing to take the challenge seriously. He acts more like a businessman than an athlete in this movie, which was an interesting angle to take.

I only have two complaints outside of the Adrian stuff I started with, and one of them is a major nitpick. The first one is that the ending is kind of weak - I get that it's providing Rocky with a happy ending and showing that he doesn't need the title to be happy, but it's so hamfisted and saccharine after his and Adrian's relationship had been established q over the course of the movie. Of course they loved each other, they shared a bed - just going "I love you!" 10 seconds before the credits roll didn't make for a great ending. But that might just be because everyone's heard of the famous Rocky ending where he's yelling and caterwauling "Adrian!" in the ring, and it just lacked that initial effect on me.

The second issue - and the major nitpick - is that the trailer included in this DVD? It's fucking terrible. It spoils most of the best story beats of the movie, and it just looks and sounds terrible. Great movie, garbage trailer.

I've got all 6 movies on DVD, and I'm gonna be watching them all. Keep an eye out for future Rocky threads.

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Some older movies spoiled basically everything in trailers.

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MrMallard posted...

44 years later.

Good write up, but y u do dis. Make me feel old lol

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Bumping this topic to say I'm pretty drunk - I'm not totally shit-faced, but I'm pretty buzzed and I'm probably going to drink more when I get home.

Should I watch Rocky 2 tonight, or give it a break until I'm sober?

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