Director Peter Farrelly returned to the Toronto International Film Festival this Saturday with “I Play Rocky,” a biographical film detailing the origins of Sylvester Stallone’s 1976 cinematic breakthrough. Much like Farrelly’s 2018 hit “Green Book,” which went on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards and secured the festival’s People’s Choice Award, the new film made an immediate impression on the audience. The premiere at the Princess of Wales Theatre was met with a resounding standing ovation, positioning the project as a potential contender for this year’s top festival prize.
Based on a screenplay by Peter Gamble, the film explores the struggles Stallone faced while attempting to break into the entertainment industry. Farrelly described the script as the finest he had ever encountered. The narrative centers on Stallone’s refusal to sell his screenplay for “Rocky” unless he was permitted to play the lead role, despite living in poverty so extreme that he famously had to sell his dog because he could not afford to feed it.
Farrelly emphasized the parallels between the actor and his fictional creation during a post-screening Q&A. “The Rocky story is actually a true story. Rocky is fiction, but Stallone’s story is the Rocky story,” he remarked. The film aims to highlight themes of persistence, integrity, and the refusal to succumb to financial pressure, mirroring the spirit of the original 1976 classic which earned 10 Oscar nominations and three wins, including Best Picture.
Before moving forward with the project, Farrelly sought and received the personal blessing of the 80-year-old star. “I said from the beginning I’m not going to make the movie unless Sylvester Stallone signs off on it,” the director explained. Stallone viewed the film privately before its public debut, a moment the director admitted was nerve-wracking, though the reaction was positive.
Anthony Ippolito, a 27-year-old native of Long Island, stars as Stallone. Ippolito, who previously portrayed Al Pacino in the series “The Offer,” secured the role by submitting audition tapes filmed in his grandmother’s basement before casting had officially commenced. Farrelly noted that seeing Ippolito’s performance effectively ended the search for the lead, stating, “That’s the guy. We didn’t have to go any further.”
Ippolito expressed the challenges of the role, noting that the production aimed to depict the often surreal and difficult reality of pursuing an acting career. His portrayal captures both the physical transformation and the vocal nuances of a younger Stallone, including the recreation of the iconic steps scene from the original “Rocky” film.
The film’s supporting cast includes P.J. Byrne and Toby Kebbell, who appear as producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, respectively, along with Tracy Letts, who portrays a composite studio executive. The production functions as both a comic underdog tale and an affectionate tribute to the creative process of filmmaking.
Farrelly expressed hope that the film would resonate with both longtime fans of the “Rocky” franchise and a younger generation unfamiliar with Stallone’s early career tribulations. The director highlighted that the core message of his film remains consistent with the original: “Just hang in there, be tough, you take some shots, but if you have integrity, you will win in the end.”
Amazon MGM Studios is scheduled to release “I Play Rocky” in theatres on November 6. Canadian distribution will be handled by Elevation Pictures. The report also notes that eight years after “Green Book” took the Toronto film festival by storm, Peter Farrelly may have done it again. The report also notes that it’s a comic underdog story and an affectionate ode to moviemaking – the kind of tale Hollywood tends to love, in Farrelly’s telling. The report also notes that it brings to the big screen the story behind the making of “Rocky,” an underdog story that has inspired many fans of Stallone’s fictional character Rocky Balboa’s sheer determination. The report also notes that now a cultural phenomenon, stallone wrote and starred in the 1976 film. The report also notes that everybody’s bought out, everybody goes for the money, and in this day and age. The report also notes that against all odds, gets his moment in the ring and seizes the opportunity – a story that reflected his own reality, it came when he wrote a screenplay about a boxer who. The report also notes that and the battle was even when he was shooting the movie, it all got me, because I didn’t know it all,” Farrelly told AFP on the red carpet in Toronto, the depth that Stallone had gone to before he made this movie.
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