Monday, July 02, 2007

Movie Review: Rocky Balboa

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I felt compelled to watch it out of a sort of obligation, but you know what? It worked for me.  It was definitely a different side of Stallone.

I know a lot of people knock him and say that he's not a good actor, but I think his portrayal of Rocky as a "real guy" is authentic. It is a fitting ending to a story that began when I was a teenager and forms, at least in my mind, a part of a diminishing common cultural experience.

Evidence of the broad cultural appeal comes during the final credits....videos of everyday people running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and raising their hands in the air in triumph.

Who hasn't either done it or wanted to do it upon a visit to Philadelphia?

My brother, upon completing a triathlon from NYC to Philly, did exactly that?

And, if you do it, you don't have to explain WHY you are doing it. And the feeling...that's universal.

Rocky! Rocky! Rocky! 

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