It's been a while since I bothered with an entry here. So why am I back now? Because I have seen a movie that I just can't help but to scream about.
Balboa.
Sylvester Stallone has truly fashioned a masterpiece film and has sent Rocky to the anals of film lore with a touching, personal and deeply moving film. Like his fictional character Stallone faced an endless series of uphill battles to get this film made and, despite a fizzled career, actually risked quite a bit in this endeavor. He could have wound up a laughing stock, people were pointing and shaking their heads when announced the project was announced without knowing a thing about it. But Stallone has courage and, apparently, integrity. He believed in the film and he believed that Rocky Balboa deserved a closing chapter to a saga everyone in America is familiar with.
It's a fascintating parralel between Balboa and his creator. Stallone faced the same hurdles in getting the original Rocky made. No one believed in him, people laughed, and finally someone offered to buy the script and cast Rocky. Stallone said no. He was dirt poor, he needed the cash, but deep down he knew he was meant to play Rocky. It was his baby and he was so emotionally invested in it that he turned down a significant amount of money to do what was right for his creation.
And now, 3 decades later, he followed the very same path. And I couldn't be happier that he did.
Balboa gives us an aging champion, a guy that was the poster boy for fame and fortune, and shows us a vulnerable, aging side of him that is ugly to think about be beautiful to watch. Reduced to owning a small restaurant and regaling his patrons with the same boxing stories over and over, Balboa is leading a lonely existence in a small, run down apartment. He mourns his lost wife but doesn't seem to miss the lime light or the money. But somehow he knows he isn't finished, there's fight left in him and he doesn't want it to end in a pit of despair and self-pity. That's not how Rocky takes on life.
Beautifully filmed and acted Balboa takes us to places in Rocky's life that go well beyond a cliched love story, well beyond a good vs. evil boxing match, it takes to the darkest spots in an aging mans soul and shows us truly what this guy is made of. It's a story of loss, it's a story of courage and more than that, it's an insighful and moving statement of the human condition. Stallone has written and epic ending to a legendary film franchise and he's more than done it justice.
Being written and directed by Stallone, Balboa is truly one mans vision come to life. Some say rocky is actually Stallone, that he has projected himself that much onto the screen, injected himself directly into the character. Perhaps he has, that would explain that exquisite connection Stallone has to this character, and maybe Rocky is so popular because there's a little of everyone up there. Rocky manages to tap into a part of his soul that we all have but just can't seem to access as readily as Balboa does.
So strong is the story that Stallone doesn't need to invent an evil nemesis. His rival, Mason Dixon, is a youg, cocky and a little misunderstood, but he's not a villian. None the less Balboa manages to create a nice, believable underdog story. All this while examining his complex and fractured relationship with a son that does not seem to have inherited Rocky's world view or tough streak. All this while examining his ongoing relationship with his departed wife, while examining Paulies sad and miserable last days filled with regrets.
Balboa is as fitting an end to this iconic character as could have been written. It's gritty, wonderfully directed and will be a classic. Much like Rocky Balboa after his last fight Stallone can look at his critics, at all those who laughed in his face when he pitched Balboa, and say, "No one's laughing now." Good for you Sly. So long Rocky, we love ya'.
