Am I crazy to be excited about this?

So it hasn't come out yet (2 weeks and counting)...but I'm already quoting the new ROCKY movie. Okay, technically I've been quoting the trailer...but still...I'm freakishly excited about ROCKY BALBOA. My favorite trashy movie news/rumor website Ain't It Cool News.com has been running an extensive Q&A with Stallone. It's been enlightening, learning about how the man thinks. How he got into the movie biz. Stranger yet...learning how he writes! Yes. Like most people, I always thought of Stallone as this muscle bound meat head...I didn't realize that he wrote screenplays. Stallone wrote the script for a movie that one Best Picture 1976 (the original ROCKY). I know the series is a little...shall we say, long in the tooth--but I recently watched the first one (one of two I've seen in the series) and I was once again surprised at how good it is.

The thing about the film (and the character) that's so great is how human it is. The first mistake people make is thinking that they're about boxing. ROCKY is not about boxing. ROCKY is about underdogs. About people like you and me. Ever had a dream? Then you can relate to Rocky Balboa. Ever wished you could get the chance to prove your worth? Then you can relate to Rocky. Most people, sadly, live their entire lives without ever having a chance to prove themselves--to everyone else and to themselves. Most people don't know (or remember) that Rocky doesn't win at the end of the first movie. He loses! Rocky scores an even greater, more important victory by simply lasting 15 rounds against Apollo Creed. That's all he wanted to do just "go the distance." I actually love the fact that he doesn't win, it makes the movie all the better.

The new movie in theory sounds terrible. Stallone is like...60 years old. How the hell can he fight a boxing match? In real life, he couldn't. Look at Ali...he's a shell of a man. Most professional althletes (football players especially) are practically invalids by the time they reach 50. The stress and strain on the body is too much. But the ROCKY movies aren't about sports, they're about more. They're about people that are discounted, written off before they even start. An aged Rocky, one that is the butt of jokes...told that he's "too old" is exactly the sort of movie I want to see. The latter ones weren't as good because Rocky was too successful by the end of the series. Old Rocky is a true underdog again. I can't wait, I hope he loses again...but I hope he goes the distance.