Must-See: Rocky Balboa

[No spoilers here.]

I wasn't sure if I wanted to see the sixth Rocky movie. I had been startled to see that there was actually going to be a sixth, and I wondered if it would be just embarrassing and uncomfortable for everybody involved. But Rotten Tomatoes had a surprisingly favorable review, mentioning that it was Stallone's "love song to Philadelphia," and it is always nice to hear somebody else's praise of an object of one's own affection.

So Sam and I went to the matinee today. I love matinees--those stolen hours in the middle of the day. Clare and I occasionally used to go to matinees while in grad school--going to them was one of about a million things we did to get through grad school with some reserve of sanity and balance. And this, too, had been an intense week of working every minute, so slipping out early was a nice reward.

Anyway, the movie. In short: it was awesome! The review I'd read had said it was "all heart," so I had expected a feel-good story, but it wasn't just that--it was a reflective look at a city and a period of time and a certain kind of . . . heroism. Yes, there were some un-subtle moments, and there's something unsettling about the physicality of the version of heroism depicted, but I also respected the movie's willingness to recognize that we confront our lives with our bodies as well as our minds and hearts.

It also honored the experiences of (for lack of a better term) the working class. It wasn't pretentious or condescending or overdone. Coming from that backround myself, I appreciated the authenticity, simplicity, and dignity of this rare portrayal. It also captured the elusiveness and longing of memory. And finally, it was a song, from the opening sequence to the final shots after the credits--seeing the city from all its prettiest and grittiest angles reminded me of why I once loved it.