I watched Rocky again the other night. It’s been a few years since I last saw the film, and I was trying to remember how it takes before Rocky gets the offer to fight Apollo Creed. This offer is the change that starts the real story of the movie. We’ve met Rocky. He’s a “might-have-been” boxer in a slow decline, who works as a collector for a loan shark. And suddenly he gets this big chance, which sets off the parts of the movie most people remember – the raw eggs, the training, “Getting strong now.”
The movie is about two hours long. If you were to follow the conventional wisdom, there should be about 30 minutes of introduction before that big “inciting incident.” So, for thirty minutes, we get to know Rocky. He has heart, but he doesn’t try too hard. He works for a loan shark but he can’t bring himself to break a guy’s thumbs. He’s been demoted from having a regular locker to having his gear in a bag on the wall. He missed his chance to be a good boxer. And then comes the big moment – “Rocky – you’re going to fight Apollo Creed.” And his life changes and the story starts.
Well, the movie seems like it’s going to follows this pattern. At around the 32 minute mark, Apollo Creed picks Rocky’s name from the Big Book of Boxers. But Rocky doesn’t know this, so it has no effect at all on his character. In fact, after this huge revelation, the story chugs along for another twenty minutes with more sweet scenes from Rocky’s pathetic life. It’s mostly about Rocky and Adrian. She argues with her brother. She has a date with Rocky. They skate. They go back to his place. They kiss and presumably have sex on the dirty floor.
In fact, we’re halfway into the film, around the 56 minute mark, before Rocky discovers that Apollo Creed has selected him as an opponent. That’s a very long introduction. Too long. But the movie works. It’s amazing.
That’s not the only oddity with Rocky. For example, that romance with Adrian. He finally gets to go out with her halfway through the movie, and that’s pretty much the end of it. She loves him, she loves him… her clothes sense improves, she can speak above a whisper, she stops needing glasses, and the relationship moves forward without a hitch.
Some people say “Rocky isn’t a boxing story. It’s a love story.” The original poster makes it look that way. And the film ends with him calling his girlfriend’s name… “Adrian!” It certainly could have been a love story. But it isn’t one.
For example, remember that moment when Rocky has been knocked down, and Burgess Meredith is saying, “Down! Down! Stay down!” Then Adrian enters the arena, and sees Rocky struggling up there, and she can hardly look. And what happens…?
What would happen in a love story is that he’s about to give up, but he sees her, and he sees the love in her eyes, and the pain as she realizes that he’s been beaten, and that he’s going back to obscurity, because they’re both sad losers… and because he loves her, he’s inspired… he gets to his feet… and he finishes that fight…
But no. Adrian is just there as an observer and an admirer. Rocky get to his feet on his own and finishes the fight on his own. This is a story about Rocky, not a story about Rocky and Adrian. Not a love story.
Rocky was a huge hit – deservedly so – and many writing gurus have analyzed the film’s structure to show how it fits their favourite pattern. But actually, the film’s structure isn’t that great. It’s slow to get going, Rocky isn’t as active in making choices as he might be, and it misses a few opportunities. Early versions of the script had even bigger problems – apparently, the first version ended with Rocky throwing the big fight, quitting boxing and opening a pet store.
But the characters are great, and the film is packed with surprising little details that feel very real and help build up the plausibility of his world – Rocky putting on a big pair of glasses before he makes notes in his book, the beleaguered loan shark trying to manage his bickering henchmen. And the emotional beats of the film work well – Rocky is a naive, sensitive character who reacts strongly to everything that goes on around him, and that makes him appealing. The story works in spite of its structure, not because of it.