From Variety · Owen Gleiberman · · 1m 20s
The man who had to be Rocky
Peter Farrelly's film retells how a broke actor willed Rocky into existence, and why casting it was a trap.
In brief
Peter Farrelly's film retells how a broke actor willed Rocky into existence, and why casting it was a trap. Rocky's meaning came from the strangeness of how it got made, so any film about it lives or dies on getting Stallone right. Originally reported by Variety.
A movie about a movie
Peter Farrelly's "I Play Rocky" is about the making of "Rocky": how Sylvester Stallone dreamed it, wrote it, sold it, and refused to hand off the lead.
“dreamed it, wrote it, sold it, and insisted he play the lead role in it”
Stallone was nobody yet
When he wrote it, he was a two-bit actor in his late 20s with no leverage and no career to speak of.
“then a two-bit actor in his late 20s”
He would not sell the part
Studios wanted the script. Stallone tied it to himself, betting his one asset on playing the role nobody thought he could carry.
Biopics usually get slack
Most biographical dramas survive without pinpoint mimicry. An actor can suggest a person instead of duplicating one.
Rocky is the exception
"Rocky" is one of the most beloved movies ever made and Stallone one of Hollywood's most famous faces. Everyone in the audience already knows the voice.
Miss it and it collapses
Get the impersonation wrong and the whole thing slides into cheesy-tacky TV-movie land. Anthony Ippolito has to land it, and Owen Gleiberman says he does.
“we would just be in cheesy-tacky TV-movie land”
The one thing
Rocky's meaning came from the strangeness of how it got made, so any film about it lives or dies on getting Stallone right.
