Netflix Instant Queue Diaries: The Real Rocky

September 7, 2012 Patrick Hickey Jr. Film 0

Chuck Wepner is Rocky. Sly Stallone may not want to admit it, but he is. His story was the inspiration for the film and his life fueled many of the goings-on in the franchise.

Jeff Feuerzeig’s ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, “The Real Rocky” exposes Stallone and the life of Wepner without boring you. It’s not hard to make the story behind “Rocky” interesting, but Feuerzeig’s film is the type of documentary that induces a smile right away. The great footage compiled along with charismatic interviews with Wepner and his family makes it a film worth repeated viewings.

That has everything to do with Wepner’s personality and Feuerzeig’s style of shooting. The up-close shots of Wepner, the comments of his lawyer and the newspaper clipping animations are stylistic and gritty, almost noir. They add a polish and level of flair not scene in many ESPN documentaries.

The relationship between Wepner and Ali drives the film, but the steady flow of confrontations between Wepner and Stallone are the driving force.

Wepner’s fight with Muhammad Ali directly inspired “Rocky.” Stallone saw the bout and was the event that lighted Stallone’s creative fire after several failed scripts. Like Rocky, Wepner was a leg breaker for the mob in-between fights. Rocky fought professional wrestler Thunder Lips for charity in “Rocky II,” Wepner fought Andre the Giant for cold hard cash.

But aside from the events that inspired the characters, that’s where the similarities end. Wepner was a marine, a liquor salesman, and a partier- he was even a criminal at times. His fighting style was downright dirty. But Stallone always found a way to incorporate Wepner into the franchise. Simultaneously watching Wepner’s life unfold and the film franchise develop, you realize this is no coincidence. Wepner makes sure you believe that his life was being used. He also makes sure you know he enjoyed the ride. He took advantage of his added 15 minutes of fame, but he wants more. With no regrets, he tells his story and there is barely a bitter bone in the film. Wepner just feels entitled to some payment for his part in the film.

The road to that moment is an engaging, witty ride that never slows down. It never gets boring. With both the fight with Ali and the imminent confrontation with Stallone, there’s always a point of interest in the film. There’s always something going on. It never drags. It’s never preachy and never steps on your toes.

Well, unless you’re Ali.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13903 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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