ROCKY BALBOA

Sports drama

BACKGROUND
Each year on the anniversary of Adrian's death, Rocky takes her brother Paulie on a tour of the old haunts: the pet shop where his departed wife worked; their old apartment; the site of the ice rink where they had their first date.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Sylvester Stallone: Rocky Balboa, restaurateur, retired boxing professional
Burt Young: Rocky’s brother-in-law Paulie
Geraldine Hughes: bartender Marie
James Francis Kelly: her son Stephenson (aka Steps)
Milo Ventimiglia: Rocky’s son Robert (aka Rocky Junior)
Antonio Tarver: Mason Dixon, the current heavyweight boxing champion
Tony Burton: Rocky's trainer Tony "Duke" Evers

REVIEW
There is a message for all of us in this one: life sometimes hands you a raw deal and you have to rise to the challenge and overcome these obstacles. Seen from this perspective, the movie is less of a boxing match than it is of someone trying his best against some rather tough odds.

Although it tends to get overly dramatic at times, for the most part it has its heart-warming moments and a few chuckles, largely at the expense of Rocky’s less than intellectual views of the world.

CLASSIFICATION
for boxing violence and some language.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
1. Boxers usually wear protective headgear when training with a sparring partner.
2. Combatants are required to wear a mouthguard during competition but neither fighter does.
3. Unlike Championship bouts that go 10 rounds, Exhibition matches are 6 rounds at most.

P.S.
The so-called Rocky Steps are the front steps leading to the Philadelphia Museum of Art which are well known for the role they played in a famous scene in the first film of the series released in 1976 entitled Rocky and in all but one of the five sequels. As the end credits roll, real-life footage of visitors to the museum are seen mimicking Rocky's famous run up the front steps at the end of his training run. The steps represent the ability of an underdog to rise to the occasion.