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Sylvester Stallone, as fighter Rocky Balboa says, "Every fighter has one last fight in him." Stallone has done it again with a script of the aging fighter who does an exhibition match against an opponent almost 30 years younger than he. The training sequences are there, the music is there and some of the same actors are there. The audience won't be disappointed. This underdog story (complete with dog) is intact and if you cheered before, well, get ready again.

Rocky Balboa is a widower who faithfully visits his wife's grave. Their son (Milo Ventigimila) however, has gone on to a high class job and doesn't want to be reminded of the old neighborhood. Rocky owns a restaurant and makes a living. Enter Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), the current heavyweight boxing champion. A computer simulator pits Balboa as the aging athlete against Tarver, and guess what? The computer predicts Rocky would win. Someone's ego is taking a beating here, so Mason egged on by his promoters, and Rocky egged on by his friends, decide to do an exhibition match for charity in Las Vegas. Tarver looks as though he could lay an elephant flat, but Rocky has brawn and in the training sequences with slabs of beef or lifting heavy chains, you get the idea Atlas is preparing to lift the world. Tarver just wants to be easy to Rocky in the ring because he feels sorry for him, but guess again, Mason, because Rocky Balboa is looking at you like a slab of beef about to be splattered.

Along the way, Stallone's script has fashioned glimpses of what others in his life deal with. His son has to contend with jibs at work about his famous father. Rocky meets a bar waitress who, as a child, once insulted him, but now is a single Mom with a son. In his own, off-handed way, he tries to help them. Tarver, also, has doubts about his station in life and keeps going back to his old gym and mentor to center himself amid his fame. Even the pound dog has a story and goes from a kennel to posh bed in the back of the restaurant. Be kind to people is what Stallone is saying, and this is only part of it because you meet people on the way up, but also on the way down.

Two interesting scenes in the film are when Rocky confronts his son about doing the right thing for yourself and when Rocky applies for a boxing license and is turned down. He explains, in plain language to the panel, just what is right and what is wrong here.

Sylvester Stallone certainly has kept himself in shape. He looks like a steam locomotive coming down the track when crossing the ring toward an opponent. Burt Young almost steals his scenes as Rocky's friend who is rough on the outside, but gentler inside. The weaker spot is the casting of Milo Ventimiglia as Rocky's son. There are times when he catches the ambience of his role and other times when he is a light-weight.The sole female lead, Geraldine Hughes, has to go from tougher to gentler, and achieves this well.

Burt Young, as Rocky's friend and trainer, says it all. "Rocky, you have sore shoulders, arthritis in your neck and your legs are shot, but you have what he doesn't, brute strength, so hit him hard and you will hear his ancestors rattling." When Rocky and dog run up the steps in Philadelphia and face the city, it's like old times, music and all. Maybe, just maybe, you CAN go home again.

Copyright 2006 Marie Asner
Submitted 12/16/06

Rocky Balboring? Not sure I would say that . At the same time it is pretty uneventful. And safe. If any movie plays it safe it is this one. I am not
sure the reason for this film. Some people might want to know what exactly became of the fictional boxing legend.  Others may like the feel good, old dog story. But serious movie fans will walk away feeling bored and unimpressed. The look and feel and sound is more like the original than any others. This was one positive aspect of the package. That and the loveable Rocky who always seems to dig down deep and make us do a little reflecting ourselves.

The story catches up with Rocky many years after his last boxing bout. He is old, sad, and from the looks of things pretty miserable. When a sports channel computer simulates a match between Rocky in his prime and current champion Mason Dixon, it stirs Rock to wonder if he still has one last round in him. This is the only real moment of the movie. Seeing someone do something, not for glory or fortune, but simply to prove to themselves they have something left to give. 

If you are looking for a great comeback film or a huge boxing movie in the vein of Rocky 2-6 forget it. Most of this movie revolves around retired
Rocky. You see the simple, good guy Rocky who just wants to help people out. To give back from all he has been given. He is no theologian or
entrepreneur. He is simply an old boxer from Philly with a bad slur and a way with Balboa-isms. He is the poster boy for punch-drunk existence. There are many scenes with him and random characters. Just delivering speeches and trying to help out. But there is really no point to it all. We know Rocky was a decent guy. It was Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago we all hated. Not the Rock. So I am not sure what he is proving.

Rocky Balboa is rated PG for boxing violence and some language. The movie is pretty much clean of any and all offenses. It is almost after school special in its do-good-ness. The one thing I am thankful for in this film is that it didn't try and sell us something we couldn't believe. As slow and uneventful as most of it was, it was still believable which gave the feel good part of it even more impact.  This was not a super hero Rocky. Just an old guy trying to stir up a little something inside. Or as Rocky would put it, "If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit". And that we can all relate to. I give it 3 out of 5 rounds. Not a blockbuster, but a nice throwback to the original. I'm Matt Mungle

The Mungle (12/19/06)

Matt is a member of the North Texas Film Critics Association (NTFCA) and hosts the weekly syndicated Indie Rock Radio Show Spin 180. Plus with his wife Cindy they do a weekly radio feature, The Mungles on Movies. For additional reviews and interview clips visit the website www.mungleshow.com