This is going to be a short review because my answer to the above question is an emphatic ‘yes!’
Quite simply, ‘I Play Rocky’ is an amazing piece of work – and I consider myself very, very fortunate to have been able to catch an early screening of this film. I cannot remember the last time I witnessed an entire cinema audience erupt into cheering and laughter, and this is precisely what I experienced in the theatre. Furthermore, the quotes that are printed on the movie poster above would usually be brushed aside as hyperbole, but in this rare instance everything that the advertising claims about this movie is true!
On an emotional scale, ‘I Play Rocky’ reaches extraordinary levels – but I will offer a small caveat here and say that most people who experienced this euphoria would have approached this movie with a pre-existing love for both Sylvester Stallone and Rocky Balboa. I would include myself in this category, just to be transparent and to reveal any potential bias going forward.
But I don’t think it makes a scrap of difference.
As ‘I Play Rocky’ has not yet been widely released at the time of writing this review, I will abide by my usual rules and try not to give any parts of the plot away – even though a lot of people already know the story of how the original ‘Rocky’ was made back in 1976.
The best place to start is with the unbelievable performance of Anthony Ippolito as a young Sylvester Stallone. We first saw this guy in action during the trailer when it was released a few months back, and most of us were completely blown away at this point. In the film, Ippolito does much more than perform arguably the best Stallone impression of all-time; he becomes Stallone!
As for real-life people being represented on the screen throughout this film, there is no comparison to Ippolito’s work here. This may be a little unfair to the rest of the cast as they are portraying individuals who are not as famous as Sylvester Stallone, but with that being said, Stephan James was more-than-convincing as the late, great Carl Weathers; capturing his confidence and cheeky essence to near-perfection.
The main performances were all solid, with AnnaSophia Robb worthy of a special mention playing Stallone’s first wife Sasha Csack. I also thought that Tracy Letts was outstanding in a supporting role as the shady studio boss Sandy Maddox.
‘I Play Rocky’ has a simple premise; telling the story of Sylvester Stallone from when he was an out-of-work actor in New York in the early nineteen-seventies – and not pulling any punches with the struggles he endured – to then share Stallone’s near-impossible journey in seeing his screenplay for ‘Rocky’ finally make its way onto the big screen and the difficulties he faced in securing the main part for himself.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
As I wrote earlier, this is going to be a quick review.
Sylvester Stallone is one of the greatest American success stories ever, and if I’m being honest here – we could do with a lot more of these uplifting and inspirational tales in our lives.
Based on this opinion, and the fact that I could not find anything about ‘I Play Rocky’ that I disliked – as well as experiencing the overflow of raw emotions around the cinema by fellow patrons – I’m simply going to state that in my view this is the best movie of 2026. I’m confident it will remain so, as I don’t think ‘Dune: Part III’ nor ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ – that are yet to be released – will surpass this film critically.
I am definitely going to watch this movie again, but unfortunately I will have to wait because the film will not be widely released in Australia until January 1st.
Screenshots and poster art courtesy of Baha Productions, Fireside Films and Amazon MGM Studios.
