December 21, 2006
YO
Went to see "Rocky Balboa" in Brandon tonight at the 8:15 p.m. showing with Salad Boy and Salad Wife.
Talk about a flashback. I was about Salad Boy's age when I saw the first "Rocky" movie. I've shown him the others over the years, up through "Rocky IV." It's hard for him to understand the resonance the early film had when you have Mr. T and his rubber head bobbing around in "Rocky III."
But things appear to be different this time around, perhaps because this film is more introspective and warm-hearted like the original.
First of all, people are yelling and screaming and clapping during the movie, just like they did for the first "Rocky" movies. And not just people my age who grew up with the series.
A teenage kid walked in before the film and yelled, “Yo, Rocko!” Dozens of people screamed back, including lots of young girls.
After the movie, a group of about a dozen high-school boys stood outside talking about the movie. One had a "Rocky" T-shirt on under his plaid shirt. They looked like cool kids. Clean cut. Handsome suburban boys.
Then as we were walking to the car, a blinged-out white Chevy Blazer with spinner rims filled with young black guys was driving by playing “Eye of the Tiger.” A guy walking in front of us had drawn “Italian Stallion” on the back of his white T-shirt.
An uncle wearing a Titleist golf cap, a print T-shirt and cargo shorts stood outside the theater’s bathroom with his nephew waiting for their brother/father.
"Had you seen the other movies?" the older one asked.
"Oh yeah, loved them," the kid said.
"I was your age when I saw the first one," the guy told him.
This isn’t the best movie out there. It’s not even the best “Rocky” movie. It's touching in places. Stallone does his best acting since "Paradise Alley." But it's far from the original film.
Still, it’s touching some sort of nerve. I won't say it's bridging generations or anything. The Star Wars series tried that and failed miserably because the last three films stunk so bad.
But it will be interesting to see where "Balboa" goes at the box office.