{"id":848865,"date":"2026-09-15T18:18:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/848865\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:18:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:18:15","slug":"i-play-rocky-first-reviews-an-inspirational-crowd-pleaser-led-by-a-magnetic-anthony-ippolito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/848865\/","title":{"rendered":"I Play Rocky First Reviews: An Inspirational Crowd-Pleaser Led by a Magnetic Anthony Ippolito"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

The biopic I Play Rocky<\/a> just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to an enthusiastic response, and the first reviews are now online. Directed by Best Picture-winning filmmaker Peter Farrelly<\/a> (Green Book<\/a>), the movie tells the story behind the making of the Best Picture-winning Rocky<\/a>, with breakout sensation Anthony Ippolito<\/a> portraying Sylvester Stallone. Those who love it seem to really, really love it (especially if they weren\u2019t expecting to at all), while others find the script too passive and shallow to be a total knockout.<\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\t\"\"\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what critics are saying about I Play Rocky:<\/p>\n

Does it meet expectations?<\/p>\n

I Play Rocky\u00a0is an absolute winner.
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of my favorite films of the year\u2026 I truly never wanted this film to end.
\u2013 Joey Magidson, Awards Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easily one of the year\u2019s best movies to date.
\u2013 George Bate, Screen Rant<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky\u00a0looks like it was a movie made just for me\u2026 This turned out to be accurate.
\u2013 Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m just as surprised as you that I loved I Play Rocky.
\u2013 Lauren Bradshaw, Fangirl Freakout<\/a><\/p>\n

I went into this with low expectations, but\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0blew the roof off; it\u2019s so good.
\u2013 Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics<\/a><\/p>\n

I must admit that I was wary\u2026 I shouldn\u2019t have worried, though, as\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0was a knockout.
\u2013 Chris Bumbray, JoBlo\u2019s Movie Network<\/a><\/p>\n

Farrelly\u2019s stylistic, crowd-pleasing homage only works because the bones of what he is reassembling are naturally strong. That reality is a credit to Stallone\u2019s hard work all those decades ago.
\u2013 Robert Daniels, Screen International<\/a><\/p>\n

Disappointment is felt right from the opening moments.
\u2013 Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Anthony(Photo by Claire Folger\/\u00a9Amazon MGM Studios)<\/p>\n

Is it as crowd-pleasing as Rocky?<\/p>\n

As an uplifting story, it may actually rival the original\u00a0Rocky.
\u2013 George Bate, Screen Rant<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky\u2026 had the audience on its feet on multiple occasions. A true crowd favorite.
\u2013 Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics<\/a><\/p>\n

My goodness,\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0is the definition of a crowd-pleaser.
\u2013 Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n

This flick is so good, so entertaining, and such a crowd-pleaser, it succeeds on its own terms.
\u2013 Joey Magidson, Awards Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky\u00a0repurposes most of its emotional uplift from the movie within the movie, but anyone with fond memories of the boxing drama will feel a surge of elation from the moment Bill Conti\u2019s theme music is folded in.
\u2013 David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky never reaches the grandiose moment that propelled the film it chronicles, but it has enough\u2026 to be worth your while.
\u2013 J. Don Birnam, Next Best Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

What we get is a film that\u2019s broadly crowd-pleasing\u2026 without a cinematic soul it can call its own.
\u2013 Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n

Does it properly honor the movie it\u2019s about?<\/p>\n

In the most resounding of ways,\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0captures the soulful, crowd-pleasing triumph of the 1976 classic.
\u2013 George Bate, Screen Rant<\/a><\/p>\n

Fans of the\u00a0Rocky\u00a0franchise and of Stallone will be unable to find many faults with Farrelly\u2019s film, which is as good a dramatization as one could hope for.
\u2013 Chris Bumbray, JoBlo\u2019s Movie Network<\/a><\/p>\n

Ultimately, I Play Rocky works because it understands the most important thing about its source material: this isn\u2019t just a story about a boxer. It\u2019s a story about believing you can become something more than what everyone else thinks you are.
\u2013 Jonathan Sim, ComingSoon.net<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a worthy supplement to the films that inspired it.
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky has nothing to say about who Stallone was or who he became as a result of creating Rocky.
\u2013 Joonatan Itkonen, Region Free<\/a><\/p>\n

A walking piece of pastiche, the uninventive crowd-pleaser takes its best cues from\u00a0Rocky, recreating memorable scenes with little of the movie\u2019s original humanism.
\u2013 Robert Daniels, Screen International<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

What if we\u2019re not die-hardRocky fans?<\/p>\n

I Play Rocky is a film for everyone.
\u2013 Lauren Bradshaw, Fangirl Freakout<\/a><\/p>\n

Even folks who may not revere the films\u2026 will find much to love about this inspirational tale.
\u2013 Chris Bumbray, JoBlo\u2019s Movie Network<\/a><\/p>\n

Whatever one may think of Rocky itself, that the project made it as far as it did is a testament to its creator\u2019s grit and sweat.
\u2013 J. Don Birnam, Next Best Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

A person will have to work hard not to like\u00a0I Play Rocky. People of course\u00a0will. Maybe they don\u2019t like Stallone movies, or care about a movie like\u00a0Rocky.
\u2013 Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n

How does it compare to Peter Farrelly\u2019s other movies?<\/p>\n

This is another Peter Farrelly crowdpleaser, to my mind a much stronger one than the syrupy\u00a0Green Book\u00a0(to say nothing of\u00a0Balls Out).
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easily director Peter Farrelly\u2019s greatest film (which isn\u2019t throwing shade at his classic comedies or\u00a0Green Book, all of which I dug).
\u2013 Chris Bumbray, JoBlo\u2019s Movie Network<\/a><\/p>\n

As he showed in his 2018 solo directing debut,\u00a0Green Book\u2026 Farrelly is a populist director who feels no compulsion to challenge his audience. In that case, he offered a soft, conciliatory take on the racial divide, while in\u00a0I Play Rocky, he doesn\u2019t shy away from sentimental excess and even a slight shlockiness.
\u2013 David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/p>\n

Farrelly has had Oscar and audience success before with\u00a0Green Book, but\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0blows that movie out of the water.
\u2013 Joey Magidson, Awards Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Toby<\/p>\n

Can we add it to the list of great movies about making movies?<\/p>\n

It is not an exaggeration to say that\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0may be the best\u00a0narrative feature about the making of a specific film\u00a0ever.
\u2013 George Bate, Screen Rant<\/a><\/p>\n

It is one of the best Hollywood underdog stories of all time.
\u2013 Lauren Bradshaw, Fangirl Freakout<\/a><\/p>\n

At its best, I Play Rocky is a fascinating movie about how films got made in Hollywood in the seventies\u2026 Any fan of film will appreciate this.
\u2013 J. Don Birnam, Next Best Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky has some of the slyness of movies-about-real-moviemaking that include Nouvelle Vague and Baadasssss! and \u2014\u00a0the Citizen Kane of the genre \u2014 Ed Wood.
\u2013 Owen Gleiberman, Variety<\/a><\/p>\n

There is no insight into the absurdity or artistry of filmmaking\u2026 You\u2019d do better watching any of the making-of documentaries instead.
\u2013 Joonatan Itkonen, Region Free<\/a><\/p>\n

How is the script?<\/p>\n

Gamble\u2019s script is broad, big on laughs, and occasionally oversells the biggest emotional beats. What it does best is recreate Stallone\u2019s real-life underdog struggle.
\u2013 Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics<\/a><\/p>\n

The script is mostly solid, though sometimes uneven, a minor issue in a film that has a tremendous cast to bring it all to life.
\u2013 Alfred Castaneda, Shade Studios<\/a><\/p>\n

The, well, rockiest part of this film is its uneven script\u2026 Stallone himself was a better screenwriter.
\u2013 J. Don Birnam, Next Best Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

It bolds and underlines every development and reference in such a repetitive fashion that it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re even watching a movie as much as a visual representation of a Wikipedia page.
\u2013 Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n

Screenwriting so lazy, it may qualify as a mortal sin\u2026. The script by Peter Gamble might as well be a Wikipedia page.
\u2013 Joonatan Itkonen, Region Free<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

And the visuals?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing visually exceptional happening here;\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a0often has a streaming-movie feel.
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

The flat, overlit televisual sheen of the film\u2019s recreation of \u201970s Philly feels blandly artificial, shot by Farrelly\u2019s now-regularly disappointing cinematographer Sean Porter.
\u2013 Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch<\/a><\/p>\n

Does Anthony Ippolito give a star-making performance?<\/p>\n

Ippolito is a revelation in a performance that will be remembered for quite some time.
\u2013 Alfred Castaneda, Shade Studios<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a film that could\u2026 do for star Anthony Ippolito\u2019s career what\u00a0Rocky\u00a0did for Sylvester Stallone.
\u2013 Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not every day you see a star-making performance, but Ippolito is one to watch, not only in this year\u2019s Awards conversations but for many years to come.
\u2013 Lauren Bradshaw, Fangirl Freakout<\/a><\/p>\n

You may get sick of hearing that Ippolito gives a star-making performance, but it\u2019s undeniably true.
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

Ippolito is going to be a star, sure, but he might also end up an Oscar nominee for this one, he\u2019s that good.
\u2013 Joey Magidson, Awards Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

For his part, Ippolito is an exceptional replica of Stallone in both looks and mannerisms; he\u2019s so close to the man he\u2019s playing that it\u2019s easy to forget it\u2019s not actually him.
\u2013 Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s on the same level as Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, and Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn.
\u2013 George Bate, Screen Rant<\/a><\/p>\n

Ippolito credibly impersonates the voice of Stallone, but the delivery lacks the iconic actor\u2019s soul.
\u2013 Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n

Anthony Ippolito tries his best, but he\u2019s lost under Farrelly\u2019s guidance, leaving his performance as Stallone a mere imitation of Sly as Rocky, not as a person.
\u2013 Joonatan Itkonen, Region Free<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Does anyone else stand out?<\/p>\n

A highly entertaining performance by Tracy Letts.
\u2013 J. Don Birnam, Next Best Picture<\/a><\/p>\n

Letts was born to play this kind of brutally blunt, ruthless-when-necessary businessman.
\u2013 David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter<\/a><\/p>\n

Special shoutouts to Kiki Seto as Talia Shire and Stephan James as Carl Weathers.
\u2013 Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephan James as Carl Weathers. James, for the brief time he\u2019s on screen, overshadows Ippolito as the charismatic Weathers.
\u2013 Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics<\/a><\/p>\n

Stephan James is shockingly good as Carl Weathers, right down to his impossibly sculpted six-pack and larger-than-life persona.
\u2013 Chris Bumbray, JoBlo\u2019s Movie Network<\/a><\/p>\n

Stallone\u2019s real-life dog, Butkus. The bullmastiff gets his own origin story, and steals every scene in which he appears.
\u2013 Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage<\/a><\/p>\n

Is this something we\u2019ll want to watch again and again, like Rocky?<\/p>\n

This is something you\u2019ll be able to watch over and over again.
\u2013 Joey Magidson, Awards Radar<\/a><\/p>\n

I feel confident that the answer is, \u201cI will watch\u00a0I Play Rocky\u00a040 or so times before I die.\u201d
\u2013 Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n

Will it make us want more movies like this?<\/p>\n

We need more feel-good movies like this in cinemas: works of art that move us to do great things, despite whatever odds we encounter along the way.
\u2013 Alfred Castaneda, Shade Studios<\/a><\/p>\n

Make more Stallone \u201cI Play\u201d movies. Bring on\u00a0I Play Cobra. I can\u2019t wait until\u00a0I Play John Spartan.
\u2013 Mike Ryan, The Hard Pass<\/a><\/p>\n

The film consistently makes you wish you were just watching Rocky instead.
\u2013 Chase Hutchinson, TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n

I Play Rocky<\/a> opens in theaters on November 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

Find Something Fresh! Discover What to Watch, Read Reviews, Leave Ratings and Build Watchlists. Download the Rotten Tomatoes App.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biopic I Play Rocky just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to an enthusiastic response, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":["post-848865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}