The Real Italian Stallion

No, it's not me. ...

First off, let me say that Rocky IV stands as one of my Top 5 favorite movies of all time right behind Back to the Future, Die Hard, The Big Lebowski, Dumb and Dumber. Before you think that I am biased toward the whole Rocky series, I'll give you that disclaimer and also tell you that I loved Rocky's 1 and 2 and hated Rocky's 3 and 5.

Last night, after I watched the next to last episode of the completely underwhelming Season 6 of 24, I decided to rent a movie through Patriot Media. After scrolling through an endless list of drab movies and not wanting to waste $5 of real money on Beer Fest, I decided to go with Rocky Balboa. I never saw the movie in the theater and had absolutely no expectations for it despite my past love/hate relationship with Rocky films. I had heard from a few people in the past that it had its good and bad moments. Other than that though, I knew nothing about the movie....Maybe that was a good thing as from the moment I turned it on, I was enthralled.

It was just a great overall movie with a ton of flashbacks from Rocky's career. It had very few unwatchable parts other than some of the scenes where Rocky was at Adrian's gravesite. The whole movie surrounds the death of Adrian Balboa from cancer and how Rocky is coping with a life without his two loves - Adrian and Boxing. He now owns a restaurant in South Philly where he serves as a host of sorts who goes around telling old stories of his fighting days and taking pictures with the customers. The story really made you feel sorry for how far Rocky had fallen and how pathetic he had become.

Later in the movie, the promoters of the heavyweight champion Mason Dixon decide to hold an exhibition between Dixon and Rocky and that's where the movie really took it up a notch. I went from feeling sorry for Rocky to all of a sudden finding myself up on my feet - okay, not literally -- rooting for Rocky . Maybe it was the old Rocky music that got me so inspired and completely skewed my usual propensity to knock down every movie that I see. But I loved this movie. Loved it!

I highly recommend Rocky Balboa for anyone who hasn't seen it.