Buffa’s Buffet, Vol. 105: Why Rocky Balboa’s speech hits so hard
Also, Matt Carpenter is back in St. Louis and "The Beekeeper" helped the box office.
Sylvester Stallone’s favorite Rocky movie is the sixth entry. 2006’s Rocky Balboa caught up with an older and retired Philly favorite, adjusting to being a widow and feeling the urge of “something in the basement,” as in the urge to reignite the fighter furnace. The film wasn’t easy to make more than ten years after the fifth and critically maligned film, a big reason why the actor likes it the most. Improbability is indeed the oil that makes the whole franchise run so long-it’ll be 50 years in 2026.
But if anything is truly remembered from that better-than-expected sequel, it’s the speech that Stallone wrote and performed midway through the movie. Along with being one of the most famous rally cries in cinema history, it’s the kickstart moment in the movie. With Adrian gone and Paulie crabbier than ever, Rocky makes extra attempts to connect with his son, Robert Jr. (a perfectly cast Milo Ventimiglia).
A video game simulation that proves Balboa could hang with a current champ doesn’t help their relationship at first, resulting in Robert confronting his dad and urging him not to take a potentially embarrassing fight. What the young man fails to grasp is that lunacy is what defined his career. The big threat Robert Jr. sees is the huge shadow of his famous father looming over his life.
Outside of the family restaurant named Adrian’s, Rocky delivers the big speech. He starts it slow with cute things about remembering when Robert was just a baby. But it digs into its real theme: building resilience to tragedy and the everyday struggle. It’s about taking life’s hardest punches and refusing to give in and fall. It’s about not making excuses in the midst of such a hard at times life, something that should resonate with any living soul. It’s about everything that defined Rocky and really defines many of us.
Our lot and goal in life isn’t as different as the mind will make you think. In beating some tough verbal love into his son, Stallone was also talking about his own embattled relationship with his father and the hard knock environment of Hollywood. While some like to knock Stallone for not being the best actor in the world, you can’t deny his ability to write and both direct with the same sensibility.
That speech in its entirety sits above my desk in the home office. It’s become commonplace to take a moment and remember that the speech resonates so much due to its relativity. Nothing hits as constantly and as hard as life, swinging its vital mantle all over lives each and every day. Before you can set up a defense, it’s bobbing and weaving, setting its feet and throwing punches over and over again. The best one can do is take those punches and refuse to stay down, persevering against all odds. Those movies aren’t really about fighting other men; they’re about fighting life.
Old baseball players constantly have to fight for their lives. Just ask Matt Carpenter.
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The veteran batsman has returned to St. Louis for the finale of his impressive career, one that could have gone nowhere but ran far. Before Cardinal Nation can whine, he’s essentially free and can be cut at any time with the salary demands landing at the Atlanta Braves’ doorstep.
If the guy who found revived gold in New York a couple years ago shows up and starts clubbing doubles and homers, it’s a big win. If he’s washed up and not producing, you cut him. He’s not replacing Nolan Gorman or anybody essentially. It’s a familiarity deal. Don’t sweat it. Get used to it. Daniel Descalso may end up being a player coach!
Jason Statham may have saved a potentially boring month at the box office. David Ayer’s The Beekeeper, a modestly budgeted and rock solid action adventure entry, enjoyed a nice box office debut over the weekend. It should have decent legs due to good word of mouth and a clear runway for the rest of the month. Usually Januarys can be dull and slow, a place for studios to dump their leftovers onto filmgoers.
The Beekeeper, like the title character, restored a little order to the dead weeks of the movie year. It did that by presenting an easy to digest and entertaining format with a leading man who can pack a punch. That’s all it needed to thrill. No sequel necessary.
Normally, I don’t give a shit about box office results for the same reason sports fans shouldn’t truly worry about the record, but Statham is one of my favorites so this is a nice win/win. The movie was good, and the humble star gets to continue making these types of films. I credit Statham, who has been a leading man for 22 years, for knowing what he is good at and sticking to it with the occasional nuance or tweak. These kind of one night stand action flicks are absolutely necessary, and it comes without the egotistical bullshit that accompanies the genre and its stars these days.
What is very necessary is for everyday drivers to stop going wide on regular turns. Disregard whatever bullshit the driving instructor told you; they were just trying to get you out of the car and their life. Remember that an ordinary turn the damn wheel motion is required. Nothing slows down the nation more than people being unable to master even the simplest of tasks. It’s not even 8am yet, and old aunt Edna is faking a left turn before turning right. Be better and safer out there, and do it for the next generation. Maybe they’ll know how to drive.
Probably not.
On Tuesday, I celebrate a year at Crescent Plumbing Supply, even if finishing this cold as Kroenke’s soul week feels like an accomplishment. It’s amazing how fast a year can fly by when you are learning a new trade and trying to remain sane amid that change. A fulfilling job that can challenge you each and every day takes a toll, it’s helped free up the writing in a way that makes the whole operation easier.
There’s our jobs in life, and then there’s the things that make us happy. They keep us sane and focused, allowing the day job to stabilize without overwhelming the system. For many years, I chased the writing gig as a day job, working through the night and trying to cobble together enough money to keep the wife and life happy. After a while, it got tiring and started to overwhelm. I’d write a great column, and then wonder if that is actually helping the family.
As Brian Cox told Dennis Quaid in a baseball movie, “you do what you want to do until it’s time to do what you have to do.” I found the last part, but retained the first part in the end.
I’m no Charlie Sheen, but I’ll call that winning at 41.
Before I go, let’s commence with one last rant to sew the latest batch of prose shut for the week. I would like to remind Cardinals fans and sports fans in general that it shouldn’t matter to you how a team ultimately fares or plays. Yeah it’s nice to watch run production and good pitching turn to wins and playoff games, but driving well and doing your own job is still most important. Acquisition comprehension is vital too.
Acquiring Matt Carpenter isn’t connected to anything except gathering veteran experience and bench depth. But fans will scream that they didn’t do this or that, and brought back Carpenter. They’re the most angry group of fans, the ones who equate every small move with the moves not made. You would think they were running the damn team, like the performance of a sports team affected their bottom line. But it doesn’t affect you, just them.
It’s just a game, people. Played by adults who don’t give a shit about you, only their job at hand. If that feeling is mutual, the world would be a better place.