In the 3 Academy Awards winning film, director John G. Avildsen and screenwriter/star Sylvester Stallone explore the concept of the American Dream and being an underdog, the idea that anyone can succeed through hard work and perseverance. The setting takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1976, celebrating the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence.
The film starts off with an action scene of Rocky "The Italian Stallion" Balboa struggling his way through a boxing match against his opponent, Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell). He eventually gets the win, just to earn $40. By this scene we can understand that Rocky is a struggling amateur boxer who can't make a living from his boxing career.
Later on in the film, we learn that Rocky works for a loan shark, Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinell) as an enforcer and a debt collector but come to find out he's too nice for this job. In a scene in the film, Rocky was ordered to break of the thumb of dock worker if he did not pay his debt. The dock worker did not pay up but Rocky the kind person he is let him go.
In the film, we see a soft side to Rocky but he tries to hide it, he is sensitive and an animal lover. We can see these characteristics when he goes into his local pet store and tries to start a relationship with the shy clerk, Adrian Peninno (Talia Shire). He has a such a love for animals, he has pets of his own. He begins with trying to gain Adrian's trust by telling her funny jokes.
At one point in the film, Rocky is interpreted as a hypocrite. He tells a girl from his neighborhood to not drink or smoke but yet he does it himself, he is considered a bum.
Rocky then meets with a fight promoter Miles Jergens (Thayer David) to possibly have a match against the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). Eventually Rocky agrees to the match, which could pay him up to $150,000. He begins to train immensely, he even uses meat carcasses as punching bags. In one scene we see Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
One particular scene that caught my eye was when Rocky was in his apartment and his trainer, Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) learning about the deal Rocky had made to fight with Creed, came to offer him to be his manager. This really caught my attention because earlier in the film Rocky had lost his locker at the gym Mickey owns to a contender and Rocky confronted him about it. Rocky states that he’s been training at the gym for years but Mickey has lost his interest in Rocky. Now that Rocky has a big opportunity of a lifetime, Mickey wants to come back into his boxing career as his manager. Rocky becomes furious at Mickey and kicks him out of his apartment. After Mickey leaves Rocky goes after him and accepts his offer.
It's New Year's Day, the time has come Balboa vs. Creed. The intense fight lasted 15 rounds. Creed got the win. Although Creed won the match we can see that Rocky put up a good fight and did not give up. Rocky's performance shocked everyone including myself.
As hearing about the film I just thought it was a sports movie, but now as watching it for the first time I realize that the film's concept is really about the American Dream. I loved how the film also focused on not only the boxing but the romance involved. Overall, the film was moving and motivational.
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