Rocky Balboa

All throughout the month of December, there was only one movie in wide release that I was looking forward to, and that movie was Rocky Balboa. Myself, and one of my co-workers. Everybody in our department thought we were crazy. After all, Sylvester Stallone's last starring vehicle to gross over $100 million was Rocky IV, 21 years ago. His name has not been concurrent with box-office draw in this decade, or the last. It took several long years to get a studio to back this, the final installment of Rocky Balboa's story, and they would only give him about $20 million. So was their investment justified? After all, the franchise has been artistically bankrupt since the first installment.....right?
I say, wrong. Though the fifth film remains unwatchable, and I find the second and fourth films just ok, the third is a great guilty pleasure of mine. It would have been a shame for the series to end on the note that Rocky V set, and Stallone ably recovers with Rocky Balboa, the strongest film in the series since the classic first installment.
The events of the newest film take place several years after the events of the fifth film, which isn't referenced or brought up in any way. Adrian has been dead from cancer for several years, and Rocky runs a restaurant named after her, posing for pictures and telling stories for patrons. The opening sequence has him visiting her grave, talking to her as if she was still alive. Paulie (Burt Young) is still working at the meat packing plant, and Rocky's son (an underwhelming Milo Ventimiglia) works at some financial-type job as a worker bee, uncomfortable in the shadow of his celebrity father. Rocky goes on an annual tour of the city with Paulie, remembering his early courtship of Adrian, and she appears in flashback, as if she was a ghost. Weighed down by the poor way in which he treated his sister, a guilty Paulie urges Rocky to forget the past, which then visits Rocky in two ways. The first occurs when Rocky ducks into a neighborhood dive for a beer and a memory, and the bartender is "Little Marie" from the neighborhood (Geraldine Martin), whom he walked home in the first film, and admonished against hanging out with bad crowds and smoking, to no avail ("Screw you, creepo!"). Marie is now grown up, a single mother, and Rocky becomes a close friend. The second is a computerized fight run on ESPN that pits Rocky in his prime against current milk-fed heavyweight champ, Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), and claims Rocky as the clear winner. This gets Rocky thinking, and an exhibition match is set up, as Rocky goes into the ring for one...... last...... time........ (Actually, the third "last time" since the second film.....I think. Don't quote me on that.)
Rocky Balboa has several things going for it. One is one of the best film scores of all time. Another is one of the most root-for-able characters in the history of film. Stallone performs his triple duty of star, director, and writer quite nicely. The script is a bit monologue heavy, but there are some nice touches in there, like Rocky's local celebrity and how that is handled. There are strong performances from Stallone, Young, and Geraldine Martin, who practically steals the film with her big eyes and tentative portrayal of Marie. The DP should be commended, as this is easily the most artfully shot of the Rocky films, with an apparent variety of techniques and cameras used.
Now for the bad news: I was hoping that this would be a great film, but it's merely pretty good, and here's why. First of all, Tarver isn't a very strong personality, and is a very underwhelming opponent for Rocky, despite the fact that he's 30 years younger. His character also (of course) undertrains for the fight. Shades of the Braddock/Baer fight in Cinderella Man, I think. Ventimiglia also turns in a snoozer of a "performance" as Rocky's son. I don't think all of this is his fault, as the role seemed a bit underwritten to me. Also, the story has dramatic weight, but I don't think that there's enough of it to give it the emotional impact that it should have had. I didn't feel like the stakes were as high as they were in, say, Rocky III or IV. Also, two other minor nitpicks I have that hurt the film a bit: Duke's (Tony Burton) part should have been bigger, and the training sequence needed to be more kickass.
Overall, I liked Rocky Balboa. If you're a fan of the series, you'll like it a lot. If you're not, you might find yourself pleasantly surprised. I give Rocky Balboa a 10 out of 22 on the 22 scale.