When Rocky came out in 1976, it was expected to be a failure. The studios had no faith in it; the budget was minuscule, and the lead was a small-time actor who couldn’t even box. The then-unknown Sylvester Stallone had not only penned the script, but demanded to play the lead. But, against all odds, Rocky was not only a critical success, but also became the highest-grossing film of that year. It also helped to launch Stallone into superstardom overnight. Peter Farrelly‘s I Play Rocky depicts the inspirational story behind how Rocky was made, turning the production of the movie into its own rags-to-riches story. The film is overly sentimental at times and almost mythic in the way it portrays Stallone, but I Play Rocky is a crowd-pleasing movie at its core. At a time when the American Dream feels more than ever like a lie, sometimes it’s nice to just indulge in the wholesome and heartwarming; it feels good to celebrate the success of someone who had everything going against him.
‘I Play Rocky’ Delivers a Story of Mythic Proportions
Throughout I Play Rocky, Jay Duplass‘ John G. Avildsen keeps reiterating that Rocky is not a boxing movie; it’s a character study movie that also happens to have boxing in it. In that way, I Play Rocky is not really just a movie about how Sylvester Stallone got Rocky made, but it is also a movie about movie-making. When the film kicks off, we see Stallone (Anthony Ippolito) at his lowest point. He’s a struggling actor living paycheck to paycheck; he can’t afford to feed his dog, he sleeps on the street, and, in an act of desperation, he takes on a role in a softcore porn movie. But even at this challenging moment, he finds hope in the form of Sasha Czack (AnnaSophia Robb), a burgeoning photographer, Sly’s future first wife, and his support system throughout most of the movie.
In the film, it is Sasha who not only encourages Sly to go by his given name (rather than by Michael Stallone) but also pushes him to put pen to paper and write his own story, one where he can play a part that he’s written for himself. Anyone who knows anything about the movie-making business could tell you that even after catching the eye of producers with his script, they were not going to cast a nobody as the lead. But, as the story goes, Sly put his foot down and demanded to play the part (hence the movie title), insisting that he wrote the part for himself and turning down a six-figure deal for the rights in order to play Rocky Balboa.
Even with a bit of exaggeration, I Play Rocky highlights just how impressively difficult Rocky was to make. In order to allow Stallone to play the role, producers Irwin Winkler (P.J. Byrne) and Robert Chartoff (Toby Kebbell) agreed to a budget of just $1 million. With limited funds, the filming schedule became a nightmare. We see Sly running so hard on the first day of filming that he injures himself. He punches meat that’s frozen rock solid because they simply don’t have enough time to wait for it to thaw. Unable to afford to build a dolly for tracking shots, production utilizes Garrett Brown‘s newly invented and somewhat untested Steadicam to capture scenes like Rocky’s run up the steps. If the production of Rocky could have had a slogan, it would have been “necessity is the mother of invention.” And, as unbelievable as the series of events is, it’s Sly’s own determination and bull-headed stubbornness that sees the film through each of its hurdles.
‘I Play Rocky’ Makes a Star Out of Anthony Ippolito
I Play Rocky could never have been a success without the perfect lead to play the titular character. The fictionalized Sylvester Stallone is captured with remarkable accuracy by Anthony Ippolito (who also portrayed a fictionalized version of Al Pacino in The Offer). It is Ippolito’s performance that really catapults I Play Rocky into the land of critical acclaim. He so easily slips into the role of Stallone that it is sometimes difficult to remember that we aren’t actually watching a younger version of the actor playing himself. Ippolito captures Stallone’s idiosyncrasies perfectly, mastering his speech pattern and his attitude, but it’s more than just mimicry; he turns Sly into a protagonist we are eager to root for.
Although his comedic moments will undoubtedly get laughs, it’s his scenes with Robb’s Sasha that are the most charming. The film portrays him as a bit of an ‘aw shucks’ kind of guy, quietly witty, surprisingly well-read, but also wholly down-to-earth — essentially, he’s catnip as a romantic lead. Ippolito and Robb bounce off of each other well, from flirting when they first meet to her much-needed encouragement given when Sly is at his most vulnerable. If Adrian and Rocky are the heart of Rocky, Sly and Sasha are the heart of this film.
Ippolito also shines when interacting with Matt Dillon, who plays Frank Stallone Sr., Sly’s old-fashioned father who acts more like a bully than a parent to his son. In the brief moments we see of them together, Dillon seems to embody every doubt and insecurity that Ippolito’s Sly has. That then gets translated into the Rocky script and filming. In these emotionally charged and pivotal scenes, he not only captures Stallone’s performance to a T, but adds his own gravitas that subtly highlights just how talented he is. Although the entire cast is impressive, it’s Ippolito’s performance that truly takes the cake.
‘I Play Rocky’ Is Schmaltzy and Full of Heart
I Play Rocky is, in every sense of the word, feel-good. At the TIFF 2026 premiere, the snappy humor and schmaltzy heart made the audience raucous. One minute you might be laughing out loud at a clever one-liner, the next, you might be awwing as Sly is reunited with his dog Butkus. It’s a film made to be watched in a group and one that translates better with an audience in a theater rather than on a streaming screen.
As the film’s 127 minutes tick by, it’s hard to not root for Sly as he jumps through hoops to make his dream a reality. He’s written as an almost impossibly charming guy. No matter how much of a pain he can be to his producers and Hollywood, we want him to succeed — partially because we know he will succeed — because he’s the constant underdog. In this way, I Play Rocky is about mythmaking. Yes, some of the feats that were accomplished through the filming process are real, but the Sylvester Stallone of this movie is not the real Stallone of today. He’s created from a snapshot in time, one that turns Sly into a hero who seems even greater than Rocky Balboa himself.
Stallone, who had no involvement in the making of this film, has never had a greater puff piece dedicated to him. And while the jury’s out on just how much praise should be given to the real Stallone these days, I Play Rocky is a resounding success, one that captures that hopeful positivity and ingenuity that made Rocky the iconic movie it is. Rocky‘s overwhelming success is justification enough for I Play Rocky to be made, but it’s the soul and performance in the film that ultimately makes it a movie worth watching.
- Release Date
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November 20, 2026
- Runtime
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127 minutes
- Director
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Peter Farrelly
- Writers
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Peter Gamble
- Producers
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Toby Emmerich, Michele Weiss, Peter Farrelly, Christian Baha
- Anthony Ippolito gives a masterful performance as Sylvester Stallone that goes far beyod just mimicry.
- ‘I Play Rocky’ is full of heart and made to be a feel-good movie.
- ‘I Play Rocky’ successfully turns the production of ‘Rocky’ into a story of mythic, legendary proportions.
- The film can slip too deeply into schmaltz at times, turning Sly into an ideal underdog that feels completely fictitious.
