Want to watch one of the best impersonations of all-time in cinema? Go watch Anthony Ippolito play Sylvester Stallone in I Play Rocky. Seldom has an actor managed to transform into an actual person like Anthony has with Stallone. Just the lead actor’s performance alone is worth the price of admission. But there’s more to I Play Rocky. It chronicles the making of, what’s arguably the most popular underdog story ever told in cinema. Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky (1976) has been the real-life rags to riches allegory for cinema for the past 50 years. It’s the ultimate fairy tale of filmmaking and the proverbial MacGuffin for many an aspiring screenwriter. But there’s even more. Rocky has been a story and a movie that’s managed to capture the attention of audiences across generations. From winning 3 Oscars in 1977 to spawning 6 feature films, 3 feature film spin-offs, to becoming part of pop culture, Rocky’s imprint on the world has been indelible. But all that greatness was built from fluke, grit, perseverance and compassion. That’s the story that plays out in director Peter Farrelley’s film and it’s a story worth revisiting.
The movie plays out between 1974 and 1976, picking up with Mike Stallone (Anthony) auditioning for bit parts in films and getting rejected because of his drawl. People laugh at him and his misfortune and resulting tenacity become the foundations for Rocky Balboa. Stallone meets Sasha (AnnaSophia Robb) while working as a ticket attendant at a New York theatre and that’s his first tryst with good fortune. Sasha’s support and love inspire Stallone to drop his fake name and go back to his actual name Sylvester. Even the idea of writing a script for himself, comes from Sasha. That sets in motion a turn of events that leads Stallone to write the Rocky script and end up at producers Irwin Winkler (PJ Byrne) and Robert Chartoff’s (Toby Kebbel) office. Between Winkler, Chartoff and their benefactor, studio boss Sandy Maddox (Tracy Letts), they offer Stallone big money for his script but he keeps turning the offer down to play the lead role himself.
The negotiations drama in I Play Rocky is absolute comedy gold. The hour-or-so of the screenplay, in which Stallone refuses to accept life-changing money from his producers, is the most entertaining part of the film. Watching a man, who doesn’t have 5 dollars to feed his dog, pregnant wife and himself, say no to $350,000 is really something. It’s a reminder that actual dreams aren’t realised with easy money but through tough determination. As Stallone struggles to make sense of his own outrageous decision, the film’s most poignant scene arrives in a heart to heart conversation between him and his wife.
But director Peter Farrelly and writer Peter Gamble, don’t tap into the humanity or frailty of their characters, as much as they could have. I Play Rocky never really veers away from the comedy genre and almost doggedly retains a Rocky Balboa gumption in staying put within its crowd-pleasing format. That’s not such a bad thing either.
The film’s tone is intentionally light and it works in favour of those who’ve grown up in Rocky Balboa’s fandom. This movie isn’t so much an exploration of Sylvester Stallone the human, as it is of Stallone, the guy who created and played Rocky. Befitting really of the film’s core theme and the title. But then again, the only reason this film avoids mediocrity is the performance of the young actor, who plays Rocky. A tip of the hat to Anthony Ippolito. His mannerisms, voice, drawl and even the physicality is near flawless. He doesn’t just play Stallone/Rocky, becomes the person. And that’s reason enough to enjoy this movie on a big screen.
Also Read: Everything We Are Watching This Week (November 9-15): I Play Rocky, SOTY: After Dark & More
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