As a factory of mythologized heroes and storytelling that plucks the heartstrings, Hollywood loves to make movies about itself. Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, a retelling of Sylvester Stallone’s underdog rise from bit player to starring in his own movie, fits neatly in that category, serving up Tinseltown as the place dreams are made of, no matter how unlikely the odds may seem at first. With a little gumption and moxie—and by strategically dropping off his script on the right desk—Stallone unlocked the chance of a lifetime; with I Play Rocky, so did comedy filmmaker Farrelly, returning to drama after the quagmire of his Oscar-winning Green Book with a straightforward, uplifting story about chasing the Hollywood dream.
I Play Rocky starts in the early days of Stallone’s career, when the actor (Anthony Ippolito) could barely land auditions, dabbling in a little softcore acting and working at a movie theater to make ends meet. He meets a fellow usher, Sasha (AnnaSophia Robb), who encourages his dreams despite his father Frank’s (Matt Dillon) naysaying. Months later, the couple trade New York for Los Angeles, and while Stallone is still parking cars to pay the bills, he lands in the production offices of Irwin Winkler (P.J. Byrne) and Robert Chartoff (Toby Kebbell) for a role that unfortunately, won’t be a fit anymore. But he takes the chance to make an impression and leaves his script on their desk, which impresses the secretary and later, the two producing partners—enough so that they take one of his new ideas to a studio executive, Sandy Maddox (Tracy Letts), who’s still a bit touchy about losing The Godfather to Paramount. Despite the long odds of a studio casting a complete unknown to lead their new project, Stallone holds firm to his demand that he play the title character, Rocky, eventually winning over the producers and embarking on a low-budget production with high stakes for them all.
Like Rocky himself, Farrelly has to come off the ropes and get back in the ring in the wake of a shaky post-Green Book career, using his comedy chops to give the story a lighthearted touch, play on Peter Gamble’s quippy script, and keep up an energetic pace to mirror the circus-like atmosphere of making a movie built out of wild negotiations, stolen shots in city parks, and sneaking around New York unions by filming in Philadelphia on the cheap. Farrelly and Gamble are up to the task, landing jabs at the industry, like all of the actors lying about what they can actually do in order to get hired for their roles and playing executive egos against one another. It’s quippy without stuffing in too many jokes, standing aside for the dramatic moments to shine through, which is crucial, since Rocky is no comedy.
Gamble’s script quickly moves on from Stallone’s early career struggles, as it’s more focused on his determination. For once, the story doesn’t write off the wife as a mere background player: Sasha is instrumental in Sylvester’s story in I Play Rocky, where she’s part of his creative process, typing up his handwritten screenplays and later serving as the film’s set photographer at his insistence. Sasha’s his Adrian, looking out for him, worrying that the studio’s grueling schedule is trying to bump Stallone off the picture, and calming his nerves during Rocky‘s premiere.
However, I Play Rocky would simply not work without Ippolito’s excellent performance. He maneuvers the intricacies of Stallone’s distinctive voice and macho posturing, wrestling with both the actor’s insecurities and “fake it till you make it” attitude, sometimes all in the same take. He disappears into the role, handling Stallone’s self-deprecating sense of humor, the physicality of untold hours of running and boxing training, and the larger dramatic moments, like when Sylvester has to sell his beloved dog because he can’t afford to feed it, with a sense of naturalism. After breaking out on TV as Al Pacino in The Offer, a dramatization of the making of The Godfather, Ippolito proves he’s a deep study, completely changing his on-screen presence and delivery to embody yet another recognizable Italian American.
The world around Ippolito is also packed with great performances, especially Robb as Sasha. The pair are quick to lean on each other, becoming a couple against the world, united against his father’s harsh words and financial troubles that could have been easily settled if Sylvester just took the money the studio initially offered for his script. Robb challenges Ippolito, as her character challenges him to be an equal member in their partnership. The two producers played by Byrne and Kebbell could have been stock characters (and Byrne’s exasperated role almost is), but they come into their own, delivering many of the movie’s jokes but also heightening the stakes should this production flop. They become reliable foils in the story between Stallone’s dogged determination to complete the shoot to the detriment of his health and Jay Duplass’ fast-talking, quick-tempered version of director John Avildsen. The story even includes characters like Garrett Brown (Michael Fuchs) and how his invention of the Steadicam gave Rocky many of its iconic moments. Unfortunately, the roles of Carl Weathers (Stephen James) and Talia Shire (Kiki Seto) feel slightly minimized in the scope of the behind-the-scenes drama, because there is so much going on between the various characters, it feels like too full of a house.
It’s fair to say that I Play Rocky may be Farrelly’s best solo film to-date, although that might not be the tallest order for a director who earlier this year released a movie called Balls Up. Yet, Farrelly’s turned in an honest-to-goodness tribute to the showbiz underdog: the aspiring actor with a script in his pocket and no money to his name, but plenty of outsized dreams and zealous ambition. For the generation of Rocky fans who came to the movie in theaters or with their dads when it aired nonstop on cable, I Play Rocky smashes that nostalgic button by recreating many of Rocky‘s most memorable scenes, dramatizing how they came to be, and even focusing on how audiences responded to the film at the time, excitedly cheering on its unlikely hero when he picked up a few gold statuettes at the next Academy Awards. Despite the setbacks, concessions, and copious penny-pinching, our heroes get their victory lap and remind us that the appeal of rooting for the underdog has yet to go out of style.
Director: Peter Farrelly
Writer: Peter Gamble
Starring: Anthony Ippolito, AnnaSophia Robb, P.J. Byrne, Toby Kebbell, Tracy Letts, Jay Duplass, Stephen James, Kiki Seto
Release Date: November 6, 2026
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