In his followup to the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” bout, the legendary boxer Muhammad Ali defended his newly regained undisputed heavyweight championship belt against the #8 contender on March 24th, 1975. Chuck Wepner, known as “The Bayonne Bleeder” for his tendency to get cut in his fights, was a 10:1 underdog and expected to be an easy notch in the win column for the champion. Smart money would have been on him not even lasting past double digits with “The GREATEST”.
However, through grit, resourcefulness, and pure determination, the unlikely challenger who had said to his wife the night before that even if he didn’t win the fight he just wanted to prove that he belonged there, lasted until the final 19 seconds of the 15th and final round. Wepner even managed to, albeit controversially, knock down Ali for what would be the final time in his storied career. Wepner was considered a “...battling, bruising club fighter who had never made the big time” but in one of the most unlikely events in the history of professional boxing, was able to practically go the distance with arguably the greatest boxer of all-time.
The fight was transmitted live to movie theaters across the country via closed-circuit television. In one theater in New York, a fledgling actor and aspiring screenwriter watched this underdog story unfold. Inspired, he rushed home and in three days penned a screenplay about a club fighter who doesn’t have much mentality or social graces and seems destined for a life of mediocrity. Despite his marginal boxing record, he gets a shot at the heavyweight title when the dominant champion decides that his next fight needs “a novelty”.
That screenplay would be purchased by United Artists with the agreement that the screenwriter would also play the lead role. The resultant film would go on to be the top-grossing of 1976, earning 122 million dollars on a 1 million dollar budget, launch the career of its star/screenwriter, and be nominated for 10 Oscars, winning three including Best Picture. The screenwriter/star was a 29 year-old Sylvester Stallone, the film was “Rocky”.
The story begins with the title character, Rocky Balboa, participating in a boxing match taking place inside some kind of church building in Philadelphia. He faces and eventually defeats another local fighter named Spider Rico amidst cries of “You’re a bum!” from some of the spectators. We can see that Rocky is lackluster in his commitment to his sport as he bums a cigarette from one of the spectators on his way to the locker room area after the fight.
After this, we get a glimpse into Rocky’s daily life as he returns to his working-class apartment to feed his turtles and goldfish, and goes to a nearby pet shop to get food for his pets where he flirts with an employee named Adrian. The next morning, we see Rocky working as a collector for a local loan shark, and going to Mighty Mickey’s Boxing Gym where he works out. His routine is upended when he goes to his locker one morning to find a different lock on it and his gear in a bag on a hook on the wall because Mickey (who goes by “Mick”) has deemed another fighter training at the gym as being a higher priority, relegating Rocky to “Skid Row”.
At this point in the story, and the character Rocky’s life, I am reminded of the great Simon and Garfunkel song “The Boxer” and its description of the titular figure:
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
But the fighter still remains
While Rocky is being relocated to Skid Row, Apollo Creed, the heavyweight champion of the world, is being informed that his upcoming opponent for a much publicized fight in conjunction with the upcoming bicentennial celebration of the United States will not be able to participate due to an injury. After being further informed that all other potential opponents can’t compete either due to being unavailable or not able to compete on short notice, Creed decides that “without a ranked heavyweight contender, what this fight needs is a novelty”.
The novelty will be giving a local fighter a shot at the heavyweight title. Apollo Creed is undefeated with all 46 of his wins coming by way of knockout, so he and his team figure that it will be an easy fight for him and a business success due to the aforementioned novelty factor. Creed and his team begin looking through listings of local fighters, and Apollo Creed decides that he wants to go up against a fighter named Rocky Balboa on the basis of his nickname “The Italian Stallion”. Despite his trainer being hesitant for the Orthodox (right-handed) Creed going up against a Southpaw (left-handed) fighter, Creed is dismissive of his challenger stating that he “will drop him in two”.
Rocky accepts the fight, mainly due to the substantial pay day that it will yield, and begins training. He is lackluster in his training in the beginning as he continues to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and voices his intention to train alone as nobody has really helped him prior to his championship opportunity. Mick, a former boxer himself, visits Rocky at his apartment to offer his services as a trainer and manager. Rocky is originally confrontational, bringing up getting thrown out of his locker earlier, but runs down Mick as he is leaving to accept his offer. From this point on, Rocky takes his training very seriously and the rest of the movie largely focuses on his preparation for, and participation in, his bout with Apollo Creed.
“Rocky” has been one of my all-time favorite movies since the first time I watched it all the way through. One of the main reasons for this is that I believe it is the quintessential American film. I’m not sure when the idea of the American Dream, the idea that largely due to a lack of institutional limitations in the United States of America an individual with little means or promise is not limited to how high they can rise in the professional world, first began but it is very present in “Rocky”.
With the presence of the idea of the American Dream, and my country’s penchant for Underdog stories, “Rocky” tells a story that is pretty uniquely American. The film tells the story of a fictional character who could easily be any of a variety of real people eking out a living and compelled to resign themself to a lifetime of mediocrity and scraping by. But then, he gets an amazing opportunity to improve his standing, the chance to become an embodiment of the aforementioned American Dream.
Rocky achieving this is deemed impossible by pretty much everyone, in the beginning the only person who thinks he can win is Adrian, who has become his girlfriend. But, just like no one who achieves the fabled American Dream does it completely by themself, Rocky is quick to realize that he can’t do it alone and accepts Mick’s help. His expert tutelage, and Rocky’s dedication to it, ensures that he is ready to take full advantage of his opportunity.
I think that the climactic bout between Rocky and Apollo Creed alone makes this the quintessential American Film. We have the underdog who has been given the opportunity simply because the champion wanted to exploit him as a novelty, and the character who one can say represents the establishment looking to take advantage of the downtrodden. The champion, who almost charitably declares “Creed in three” before the fight starts, almost patronizingly giving his challenger an extra round from what he declared to his team earlier, figures he is in for a walk in the park.
But, Rocky shows that the little guy is made of tougher material than the establishment believes. The first showing of this is in the first round of the fight when Rocky knocks down Apollo Creed for the first time in his career. Significantly, the fight goes past the champion’s prediction of 3 rounds. While Creed is the more skilled fighter, similar to the proverbial establishment having an advantage of resources and longevity, Rocky takes the punishment and continues on refusing to stay down even when Mick suggests it.
The beginning of the film establishes the Rocky character as an everyman type who has been dealt a proverbial bad hand in life due to his circumstances and the extreme unlikelihood of ever rising above them. In the bout with Apollo Creed, he takes on the mantle of all those who refuse to accept those circumstances and instead fight against them. He is in this position thanks to an opportunity and takes advantage of it due to the support of others and his own determination and iron will. In this way, the story of Rocky becomes the story of all of us to some extent or another as he takes the hand he’s dealt and makes the most of it.
I also love this film due to it having what I believe is one of the greatest endings in cinematic history. I won’t spoil it by revealing the outcome of the bout, but it suffices me to say that Rocky does much better than anyone thought he would. After the fight is over, news reporters are swarming Rocky and asking him questions. In the midst of all this, Rocky only calls out for Adrian. Adrian’s brother, and Rocky’s best friend, Paulie distracts ring security to allow Adrian to enter the ring and go to a bruised, but not broken, Rocky. The film ends with the two of them declaring their love for each other and sharing an embrace in the ring.
“Rocky” can easily be dismissed as a “Jock Movie” or as a schmaltzy melodrama. More cynically it can be seen as just the start of a bloated franchise that now stands at a total of 6 “Rocky” movies and the spinoff “Creed” trilogy. But I find it to be a great, almost uniquely American, story about a man, who could be anyone not born into privilege, refusing to let his circumstances keep him down and instead making the most out of an opportunity to rise above them.
The story, especially the training montage, inspires me to work my hardest to become the best version of myself that I can and face my own challenges the way Rocky does his fight with Apollo Creed. That is, to face them head on while taking advantage of opportunities, accepting help from others, and never giving up. I also hope to one day visit Philadelphia and cross off a Bucket List item of running up the “Rocky Steps”.
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