Even though we know that Stallone has poured his own life experiences into creating Rockythe story of how he got the first film made, is still replete with as much warmth, heart, and cinematic moments as Rocky itself. You cannot help but be swept away by the sheer beauty of the miraculous sequence of events that laid the foundations of Stallone’s unshakeable legacy. Peter Farrelly’s film is neither loaded with saccharine deception nor does it try to deconstruct the story to cynical ends. It is a mistake biopics often make, they either make their characters impossibly perfect and thereby plastic. Or in order to be grounded and realistic, they highlight the shadows of their subjects too harshly. I Play Rockythankfully, is more interested in the spirit of Rocky than a caricature of Stallone. The film also never shows the studio executives or Stallone’s wife Sasha as cinematic obstacles for the actor to overcome. They are as human as Stallone. The film is as awestruck and full of admiration towards the story as we are.
If Rocky is about going the distance, I Play Rocky is about conviction. It is as the title says it, an affairmation that Stallone has to say again and again until the world finally budges. The film could have spent more time depicting the several interesting behind-the-scenes incidents that happened during the shooting of Rocky. And we do get them. But a lot of scenes are dedicated to focus on the time when the studio negotiates with Stallone. That is how you know that the film has really grasped the soul of the story. The studio executives keep increasing the price from $ 25,000 to almost $ 3,00,000 just so Stallone would give up the script and budge from the stipulation of playing the lead character himself. This incredible resilience mirrors how Rocky refused to go down in his fight with Apollo Creed.
The way Anthony Ippolito embodies Sylvester Stallone to the minutest detail, is almost demonic. When Ippolito recreates scenes from Rockyif not for the other actors inside the frame, it is easy to believe you might be watching footage from the original. Ippolito excels in his understanding of the difference between Stallone and Rocky. Stallone is intelligent and sophisticated, traits unfortunately smothered by his speech impediment. Stallone is desperate to prove to the world he is capable of more. Rocky, atleast in the first film, is anything but sophisticated. And he wants to prove to himself that he is not a bum. Ippolito nails this subtle difference.