There are some movies that are almost impossible to spoil because we already know exactly how they end. I Play Rocky is one of them. Much like Air, which dramatized the story behind one of the most famous sports deals in history, this is a movie where the destination is never in question. We know Sylvester Stallone became one of the biggest movie stars in the world. We know Rocky became one of the most beloved films ever made. We know Rocky Balboa wins over audiences and the film becomes a phenomenon.
What we don’t necessarily know is just how crazy it was for any of that to happen. And that is what makes I Play Rocky so effective. Rocky was an underdog story, and I Play Rocky is an underdog story about the making of that underdog story. It is a remarkably entertaining love letter to believing in yourself, taking an impossible chance and, perhaps most importantly, making a movie.
At the center of it all is Anthony Ippolito, who has the gargantuan task of playing Sylvester Stallone, one of the most recognizable actors in Hollywood history. Remarkably, this isn’t even Ippolito’s first time portraying an iconic 1970s actor in a project about the making of a legendary movie. He previously played Al Pacino in The Offer. If there is a pattern emerging here, Hollywood should probably start paying attention. Ippolito is magnificent.
He doesn’t simply look the part. He captures the physicality, voice and mannerisms of Stallone without turning the performance into an impression. The gravelly voice and slightly slurred speech are there, but so is the determination underneath them. Even the small details are carefully recreated. Stallone is a southpaw, and the movie gets that right. He writes with his left hand. Those little touches demonstrate just how much attention has gone into making this portrayal feel authentic.
But the most impressive part of Ippolito’s performance is that he understands what makes Stallone compelling in the first place. This isn’t just the story of a man who wants to become famous. It is the story of someone who knows he has something to offer and refuses to let everyone else convince him otherwise. When we first meet Stallone, he is struggling badly. He doesn’t have much money and is homeless. Eventually, he marries Sasha, played by AnnaSophia Robb, and the two move into a modest apartment. He begins writing scripts, desperately trying to get his work in front of producers. Then he writes Rocky.
In real life, Stallone famously wrote the first draft in just three and a half days. The movie captures the almost unbelievable speed of the process while also showing the desperation behind it. Stallone needs money. He needs a break. He needs someone to believe in him. And then he gets an offer. The problem is that the studio head doesn’t want him to star. The more money they offer for the screenplay, the harder the decision becomes. Stallone could sell the script and walk away with a life-changing amount of money, or he could hold onto his dream of playing Rocky and potentially walk away with nothing.
That is the central conflict of I Play Rocky, and it works because the stakes are genuinely enormous. The audience knows Stallone’s decision will work out, but the character doesn’t. For him, this is the decision of his life. He isn’t simply fighting to get a movie made. He’s fighting for the career he believes he can have. That makes this an especially inspiring movie for struggling artists, and particularly struggling actors. The entertainment industry has never exactly been kind to young talent without established names, and Stallone’s story is a reminder that sometimes a million-to-one shot really does come along. The trick is having the courage to recognize it when it does.
Stephan James is also excellent as Carl Weathers, bringing exactly the kind of charisma and personality necessary for the man who would become Apollo Creed. But one of the film’s greatest supporting performances comes from Jay Duplass as director John G. Avildsen. Duplass, himself a filmmaker and actor, brings a wonderful authenticity to Avildsen. He plays him as someone who knows how to get things done, who wants to make the movie on time and under budget, but who can also be brash and stubborn when necessary. More importantly, the film understands why Avildsen was so important to Rocky.
The eventual production of Rocky is where I Play Rocky really comes alive. They have to make this movie quickly. They have to make it cheaply. The budget is less than $1 million. If they fall one day behind schedule, the studio can fire Stallone as the lead. They’re practically counting on him to fail. Every day of shooting matters. Every dollar matters. There is virtually no room for failure. And yet, somehow, they pull it off.
The movie’s depiction of the production becomes a fascinating reminder that filmmaking itself is always an underdog story. Every movie is something of a miracle. Hundreds of people have to make countless decisions, solve seemingly impossible problems and somehow turn a collection of ideas, performances, cameras and locations into something that works. I Play Rocky understands that.
It is especially fascinating to see the film come together through improvisation and creative problem-solving. The newly invented Steadicam becomes an important part of the production, while Avildsen’s willingness to let moments develop organically helps create some of the iconic scenes audiences know today. The movie makes a convincing case that sometimes the best filmmaking happens when a director is willing to recognize that the plan isn’t working and push an actor toward something better. A director’s job isn’t simply to tell everyone what to do. It’s to feel the movie. To believe in it. To know when something isn’t working and have the courage to keep pushing until it does.
AnnaSophia Robb is also very good as Stallone’s wife, Sasha, even if the character isn’t given quite as much dimension outside of her relationship with Stallone. Her presence nevertheless helps ground Stallone’s increasingly improbable journey in something personal. Director Peter Farrelly does an excellent job helming Peter Gamble’s screenplay, and he recreates moments from Rocky so well they look straight out of 1976. Ultimately, I Play Rocky works because it understands the most important thing about its source material: this isn’t just a story about a boxer. It’s a story about believing you can become something more than what everyone else thinks you are.
Stallone was given every reason to take the money and walk away. Instead, he bet on himself. He believed that Rocky wasn’t just a screenplay someone else could turn into a hit. He believed that Rocky Balboa was his character and that playing him could change his life. He was right. The incredible thing is that, for a while, he had absolutely no reason to know that he would be. Rocky was truly lightning in a bottle. That makes I Play Rocky more than a behind-the-scenes movie. It is a movie about dreams, risk, and the terrifying uncertainty that comes before success. It is a movie for anyone who has ever been told they aren’t good enough, famous enough, talented enough, or realistic enough.
If Rocky is the ultimate cinematic underdog story, I Play Rocky proves that the story behind it might be even more unbelievable. Rags-to-riches stories don’t get much richer than this.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our I Play Rocky review.
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