In watching Rocky I’m reminded that every once in a while a movie comes along that just seems to fit together so perfectly that it seems perfectly natural that someone had to have made exactly that movie at some point. Other times I am pleasantly surprised at how good a movie is, or irritated at how bad, or just amazed that someone would think to make something so bizarre or cheesy. But with Rocky, everything is exactly what it should be, the movie knows exactly where it belongs and exactly what it wants to say, and so it comes across as a perfectly natural piece of storytelling.
The way that Rocky was directed not only indicates skillful direction but also very skillful acting. The film is composed of unusually long takes, which puts a lot more pressure on the actors but provides a much more realistic feel. This type of cinematography requires much more planning and meticulous rehearsal to get right, and there is much more dialogue for the actors to know all at once. There is something to be said about the actors because they were able to do this and still avoid making the dialogue sound even a little bit rehearsed.
There have been thousands of movies made about an underdog getting the chance of a lifetime and rising to the challenge, but not only is Rocky barely about that fight, it also goes deeper and gives a reason for it. The world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, is planning a fight on the 4th of July that is to be a major, major event. All other professional fighters are booked on other events or, if he does say so himself, afraid to fight him.
This necessity inspires Creed to come up with a marketing ploy where he will broadcast an opportunity for an amateur fighter to fight the greatest fighter in the world on America’s 200th birthday. But not just any fighter, it has to be someone significant, someone that will give meaning to the date that the event is to take place, and of course someone who will make Creed look symbolic and meaningful as he’s knocking him out.
And what better way to celebrate America’s birthday and how far we’ve come than for a black man to beat an Italian in a major fighting event! (you see, Creed mistakenly believed that Christopher Columbus, an Italian, had discovered America, unaware that Columbus never set foot in North America and that the Chinese had landed on American’s east coast more than 70 years before Columbus ever set sail!).
But what really wins Rocky’s way into our hearts is how regular he is. Like it or not, he’s a big, dumb oaf, but he’s honest, he’s hard-working (his job as a collector for a bookie is not exactly high-brow professionalism, but he knows it’s a bum job and he also knows that it’s really the only thing he’s any good at), he has a genuine love for someone who clearly needs it, and he cares for small animals and there’s nothing quite as charming as a huge man who loves his turtles.
Besides that, he believes in himself, even when it seems ludicrous to even consider that he might have a chance against the greatest fighter in the world. 
What gives the movie real drama is that to Apollo, the entire fight is just for show, but Rocky doesn’t know that. He thinks it’s meant to be a real chance for an unknown fighter to challenge the heavyweight champion. Apollo plans to knock him out whenever he’s ready, but still that he’s doing some kind of humanitarian thing by putting an unknown fighter’s name and face up there on that poster next to his own.
The fight between Rocky and Apollo at the end of the film is one of the true classic moments in the history of film-making. It proves that it’s not about winning or losing, and it’s not even about how you play the game, it’s about giving it everything you’ve got when you have an opportunity. Rocky had a chance to do something that seemed impossible, and he ignored the hopelessness in the air and gave it everything he had. The life lesson is not the most cryptic thing in the world, but no less important.
5 Beans out of 5.
