Yasmin: "Endless Possiblities" Review

Rocky. Dir. John G. Avidsen,  Feat. Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa), Burgess Meredith (Mickey), Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed), Talia Shire (Adrian), and Burt Young (Paulie)  MGM, 1976.

   
  This was [is?] a great film; it was very interesting with an inspiring turn of events. At first, I wasn't really understanding the purpose of this film. I just thought it was men fighting to make ends meet, which is tragic [good observation]. Little did I know there a motivational meaning behind the purpose of this film.  The slow start made it difficul,,t for me to focus and become interested. It was an old [older; movies pictures have been around since the late nineteenth/early twentieth century - Rocky is around forty years old] film which made me even more uninterested [okay; at least you are being honest]. However, I had a total change of heart. It showed the true meaning of dedication and motivation for a passion. It demonstrates that opportunities are closer than we think [YES!].

     Rocky Balboa was a small-time boxer who was very kind-hearted and generous given his situation. At the beginning of the film, I thought that Rocky was one of the worst boxers in the boxing ring. It's the way the movie portrayed him. What I took from the film was that Rocky was a washed up boxer that had no talent. His manager treated him terribly and his value was knocked down. He was fighting the lowest and least skilled boxers, also known as bums. This tells me that if his opponent is a bum than Rocky was surely a lot less than that. The term bum was a recurring phrase in the film and it's [it's with an apostrophe means it is  -  not the possessive] meaning extends outside the ring to me. It gave me a glimpse into how his life was and how the world viewed him. It's clear to me that Rocky had a difficult life, but he was able to turn his life around with the help of his new girlfriend Adrian (Talia Shire). Rocky was chosen to take on the reigning World Heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), one of the toughest and undefeated boxers known to man. Rocky was terrified but also electrified at the opportunity. Imagine a washed up boxer, close to living an impoverished life, all of a sudden gets a golden opportunity that falls right in his lap. There were a lot of pros and cons to the situation but those cons and negative thoughts didn't persuade him to drive the other direction. In fact, it was the fear of a bigger loss and disappointment of not attempting to strive and go not go the distance.

     SPOILER ALERT!!! Rocky trained non-stop determined to go the distance, which in the end he did. He didn't defeat Apollo Creed, but he did gain respect and honor. That achievement made it known to the world that Rocky was much more than just a bum in the neighborhood. He gained that recognition that he always desperately wanted. Rocky knew he was much more than just another small-time boxer and that was definitely proven. His dedication and perseverance was made clear when he achieved his goals like going the distance and running up the Philadelphia Museum of Art staircase while the non-diegetic music was in the background. I would recommend this film to an audience that loves classic, emotional, and inspirational films that is just so breathtaking you would want to watch it again.