Saturday,
December 30, 2006
"Rocky Balboa" Rocky VI:
Heartwarming Winner
The
ANNOTICO Report
Sylvester
Stallone wisely makes Rocky's comeback fight a
colorful Footnote to the sweet but nonromantic relationship that develops
between Rocky and Little Marie (not so little anymore
as a single mom living in a hard patch of the old neighborhood) and gives the
film much of its soul.
Geraldine
Hughes' performance as Marie, the lonely young woman who believes life is
a lost fight, is touching and authentic.
Rocky
son.doesn't hang out with his dad much, but Rocky won't
let a little estrangement keep him from his boy.
The
film has depth, complexity, and of course, Heart!!!
Rocky Proves to be Heartwarming Winner
2
The Advocate
The
Advocate and WBRZ News 2
By John Wirt
Advocate movie
critic
December
30, 2006
Hey,
you mugs. Sly Stone’s doing another Rocky movie. Yeah,
hes 80 years old. Sly slaps some old man in a match at the old
fighters home.
Not
exactly.
There is a new Rocky movie and Sylvester Stallone enters the ring again, 30
years after his Rocky debut. But forget that cynical stuff about old Rocky
going his latest round in a wheelchair.
In Rocky Balboa,
the sixth film of the series, Rocky battles another seemingly unbeatable
opponent. But the big match in Vegas is more or less a loud footnote in
Stallones
Told on a mostly
intimate scale, Rocky Balboa finds the series scrappy hero living modestly
and alone in Philly. He runs a nice little Italian restaurant. The menu should
include mention of complimentary tableside fight stories from the ex -! Italian Stallion.
The aging Rocky is
a simple guy, a nice guy. Hes not bothered by fans who
yell hello or stop him for an autograph.
Grace is not a word
that applies to millions of Americans these days. Were busy rudely rushing
around, rolling through stop signs and yakking on cell phones while driving
dangerously.
Not Rocky. This
former fighter is a gentleman. His vocabulary aint
too good, but the man has grace.
Familiar faces
other than Stallone also show up in Rocky Balboa. Burt Young returns as a gruff
old Paulie. He works at the meatpacking plant. But
Adrian Paulies
sister and Rockys wife only
appears in the photo Rocky keeps by his bed and fleeting black-and-white
flashbacks. The departed
Of course, every character from the previous Rocky films is older, including
the fighter's son. Milo Ventimiglia (TV's Heroes,
Gilmore Girls and American Dreams) co-stars as the grown-up Rocky II. He
doesn't hang out with his dad much. But Rocky I won't let a little estrangement
keep him from his boy.
Rocky works his charm on another face from the past, Little Marie. Only she ain't so little no more. Marie's a
single mom, living in a hard patch of the old neighborhood.
Irish actress Geraldine Hughes co-stars as Marie, a damaged soul who keeps her
defenses up. In the ring and out, however, Rocky is good at breaking defenses
down.
It wouldn't be a Rocky movie without a climactic fight in front of thousands of
fans. Make that millions of fans. The match is an HBO pay-per-view special.
The best thing about the big fight, though, is Stallone as writer-director not
taking it too seriously. The fight sequence is more tongue-in-cheek than
glorification. That's fine, because Stallone and his cast earn enough points
before the match to make Rocky VI a heartwarming winner.
Starring:Sylvester
Stallone, Burt Young,
Crew:Director, Sylvester Stallone; Writer, Sylvester Stallone
(Running
time: 1 hr. 42 min.)
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net