ROCKY BALBOA Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
MGM/ Columbia Pictures
Grade: B-
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Written By: Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Burt Young, Milo
Ventimiglia, Geraldine, Hughes, Tony Burton, James Francis
Kelly III
Screened at: AMC Empire St., NYC, 12/22/06
Opens: December 20, 2006 “Times have changed,” notes Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), now 60 years old and living in a downscale part of South Philadelphia despite owning an upscale restaurant named after his late wife and having been the heavyweight champion of the world. Indeed. Generations ago who would have thought that an old-school Paisan would be courting an Irish woman, or that a colleen would be living with a Jamaican man and bringing up a son by him? But Rocky still holds on to his colloquial English, substituting “yiz” for “you,” wears a beat-up fedora when he struts about the city streets during the day, changing to casual sportswear at night when he makes the rounds of the tables, talking about his fights. Stallone, who wrote, directs and stars in the what is likely the last of the Rocky series (the last was sixteen years ago), takes forever to get into the ring, but give him credit for that. Playing a has-been fighter determined to show that he’s a still-is at age sixty (he has just months ago crossed that sextuagenarian border), he does an original take on sports movies: he shows what daily life is like in a neighborhood where some people still know and respect what you’ve been while others may say, “Rocky who?” Like too many others who have far fewer years ahead of them than they’ve left behind, Rocky is living in his memories. He pays homage to his wife who died of cancer five years back by visiting her plot regularly. A neon sign above his restaurant lights up the street with the word “Adrian.” He puts up with his personality-challenged yuppie son Robert’s (Milo Ventimiglia) embarrassment at his old-fashioned ethnic ways and resentment at getting his yuppified jobs only because of his father’s name. Rocky can’t resist getting out of his truck to get physical with a guy at a run-down bar who insults him, impressing a single mother, Marie (Geraldine Hughes) to whom he takes a fancy, and he takes her son (James Francis Kelly III) under his wing. When a computer program shown in Rocky’s bar indicates that he could give the unpopular 32-year-old heavyweight champ, Mason “The Line” Dixon (Antonio Tarver) a real match in an exhibition 10-rounder, he’s encouraged to do so not only by his new girlfriend but by his lifelong pal Paulie (Burt Young), all his customers, and by his trainer who acknowledges that Rocky is lacking speed but should concentrate on developing nuclear power in his fists. No-one expects Rocky to last more than two rounds, but the old guy can score a moral victory by staying on his feet for the entire ten rounds. The bout itself takes place in Vegas and, filmed by Clark Mathis, is not given particular urgency or realistic drama. Rocky is outdone from the start, as the champ is taller, and has the long arms that prevent the challenger from getting close enough to land his famous hooks. By the time the ringside drama takes place, you might be longing to get back to South Philly to watch some more soap opera, taking another walk down memory lane. “Rocky Balboa” is a sentimental pic, though not a three-hanky melodrama, made worthwhile if only by its giving the AARP generation the chance to express its points of view to the I-Pod, MP3 community and its cell-phoned, ear-pierced, and tattooed acolytes. Rated PG. 102 minutes 2006 by Harvey Karten
harveycritic@cs.com Member: NY Film Critics Online | 
