ROCKY V
A film review by Nathan Shafer
Copyright 1990 Nathan Shafer
Capsule Review: Rocky, due to his brother-in-law's financial mismanagement, his wealth, and returns to his old neighborhood. He is also forced by medical problems resulting from boxing to retire from fighting, while promoters clamor for more fights. This is a nice change from the monolithic juggernaut of the last three films, and a return to the kind of characterization that made the first film great. A bit heavy-handed at times, it still pleases and (wonder of wonders!) surprises from time to time.
On the Leeper Scale, I give it a high +1 to low +2 ( -4 to +4).
Many of the best stories I have read or seen on film have been variations on the "test tube" model of plotting: take some chemicals (or characters), throw them together in a test tube, and see what happens. The more reactive and volatile the chemicals (or the characters), the better. Stories which follow this model usually follow one of two paths: a "slice of life" path, which shows realisticly what would happen to such characters in such a situation at a realistic pace, or a hyperbolic path, in which events which would realistically occur over a span of years take only a few weeks, or even a few hours, and in which characters' motivations are amplified to a level approaching parody. This film follows the second of these two paths.
The problems facing the Balboa Clan as they move back into the original seedy neighborhood they originally left behind are predictable: Less physical comforts; neighbor-fans constantly hanging around; Rocky's kid, who now has to attend the local public school, facing harassment by the neighborhood "bad boys." These are all present, and they are not done especially realistically. The kids in this "seedy" neighborhood of Philly, for example, are all white, and the worst vices they seem to have acquired are cigarette smoking and having pierced ears. The image of Philly's bad neighborhood seems to be a gentle one, pre-desegregation and pre-crack.
There is an extra complication, however: Tommy Gunn, a young boxer from Oklahoma (he looks oh-so-farmboy, too!), who idolizes Rocky and has come to Philly to seek him out, and receive the wisdom of this boxing guru. Rocky, seeing a chance at vicarious re-attainment of greatness, takes Tommy under his wing to train him, while neglecting his son, who desperately needs the kind of fatherly support Rocky bestows to Tommy. Themes of fatherhood, parental neglect, and juvenile rebellion are raised here, but the situations that come up in a matter of weeks seem to be the kind that in real life occur over years. This, however, does not detract from the power of this side of the movie. The questions raised here are dealt with neither delicately nor subtlely, but neither are they dismissed with platitudinous responses or excessive exposition.
On the technical side, this movie uses to full effect the kind of imagery the Rocky films have been built on: sweeping montages, images of faces in the crowd, Adrienne saying Rocky's name, and of course punches, punches, punches, seen from every angle and with blood on the mat to spare. The film, however, also takes advantage of Rocky's brain damage to use some surreal imagery of Rocky's previous fight with Ivan Drago, as well as some reminiscences of Mickey, Rocky's old trainer (played once again by the wonderful Burgess Meredith). This is in fact the most nostalgic of the Rocky movies, looking back on them with fond memories. As Rocky prepares to move into the old neighborhood, he doffs his old hat from the old days when he was muscle for a loan shark; Adrienne returns to work at the pet store where she originally met Rocky; Rocky returns to work at the gym where it all started.
In many ways, this movie is like going home, after a rather tasteless digression into world politics and several boring rehashes of the old question of the "immovable object" and the "unstoppable force." It is especially pleasing to note that even within ten minutes of the end I wasn't sure how the film would end; this film, unlike the others, does not have the sunny Reagan Era Stallone who uttered such lines as "Go for it." Stallone seems to have, upon entering the 90s, reflected some upon his own mortality, the transience of wealth, and some of the simpler pleasures of life.
Nathan Shafer Dartmouth College, NH
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