‘I Play Rocky’ Review: Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Origin Story Packs a Crowd-Pleasing Punch

Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky turns one of Hollywood’s most famous success stories into an energetic underdog movie of its own. Instead of retelling Rocky, the film follows Sylvester Stallone before the fame, when he was struggling to find acting work and refusing to give up on becoming a star.

Anthony Ippolito plays the young Stallone with an uncanny resemblance and a convincing take on his unmistakable voice. More importantly, he captures the stubborn determination behind the future icon. The film presents Stallone as a talented but unconventional actor who keeps getting rejected while trying to convince Hollywood that he has something worth seeing.

The turning point comes when Stallone draws inspiration from a boxing match and writes Rocky in just a few days. The real battle, however, begins afterward. Studios want the script, but they are far less interested in letting Stallone play the lead. The movie follows his increasingly difficult negotiations and his refusal to separate Rocky from the actor who created him.

The story is hardly suspenseful — everyone already knows how Rocky ends — but Farrelly keeps things moving with humor, colorful supporting performances and a strong focus on the chaotic process of making a movie. Jay Duplass is particularly memorable as director John G. Avildsen, while the film’s look at the development of the Steadicam provides one of its more unexpectedly emotional moments.

The biggest weakness is also its biggest stylistic choice. I Play Rocky smooths out much of the darker reality behind Stallone’s early struggles in favor of a polished, feel-good Hollywood narrative. The result is entertaining and easy to embrace, but sometimes feels too carefully designed to make audiences cheer.

Still, as a crowd-pleasing story about persistence, I Play Rocky lands its punches. It may not offer the most complicated portrait of Stallone, but it delivers an entertaining look at the unlikely journey that turned a struggling actor’s script into one of cinema’s defining underdog stories.

I Play Rocky premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. Amazon MGM Studios will release the film in select theaters on November 6, with a wider release later in the month.