Anthony Ippolito, as Sylvester Stallone, celebrates during a training run through Philadelphia in a scene from “I Play Rocky.” (Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, Baha Productions and Fireside Films)
Screen Time gives this film a Melodious Thumbs Up.
Screen Time with Melodie Miller is a review column that looks beyond the trailer and connects audiences to movie perspectives.
The studio executives wanted the “Rocky” script, but not Sylvester Stallone. They wanted a star instead. They didn’t know they were looking at one.
In “I Play Rocky,” directed by Peter Farrelly and written by Peter Gamble, the then-unknown Stallone sets a goal worth more than money: the chance to play Rocky Balboa. Anthony Ippolito’s brilliant performance captures a young Stallone’s off-screen determination and belief with a striking embodiment of the man himself. The result is a film that inspires hope and makes audiences believe in the impossible again.
The 49th Denver Film Festival opened on Oct. 22, with “I Play Rocky” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, drawing a Denver audience that filled the theater for the Stallone underdog story. Gamble joined the festival, walked the red carpet before the screening and shared his excitement about attending.
Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith (left) and Denver Film Artistic Director Matt Campbell welcome “I Play Rocky” screenwriter Peter Gamble on the red carpet on opening night at the 49th Denver Film Festival. (Melodie Miller/CU Independent)
“This is exciting,” Gamble said. “Whenever you can go watch something that you love, and hope that other people are gonna experience that too.”
Gamble’s hope is well placed because audiences will have good reason to share his excitement. His screenplay is a vehicle for an award-worthy performance by Ippolito, whose portrayal of Stallone and Rocky rings true from start to finish. Ippolito makes Gamble’s words jump off the page, delivering the film’s direct hits throughout. The dialogue is honest and believable. Not one beat is missed.
Anthony Ippolito, as Sylvester Stallone, raises his arms above his head at the top of the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a scene from “I Play Rocky.” (Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios, Baha Productions and Fireside Films)
Farrelly, known for “Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary” and “Green Book,” brings his gift for combining comedy with weighty content to deliver one of 2026’s top films. The cast, led by Farrelly, leads audiences along every step of Stallone’s journey to success. Gamble said Farrelly is the Willy Wonka of filmmaking and created a community on the set.
Gamble said what made Farrelly great to work with was “he inspired everything. He made everyone so happy to be there.”
The ensemble surrounding Ippolito is strong and dynamic. AnnaSophia Robb portrays Stallone’s then-wife, Sasha Czack, with optimism grounded in stability, commanding equal space and energy alongside Ippolito. Their chemistry anchors the film with an on-screen partnership that can lead to greatness.
Stephan James (left), AnnaSophia Robb, Anthony Ippolito, and Kiki Seto attend CinemaCon 2026 on April 15 for “I Play Rocky” in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. (Chris Delmas/AFP via Getty Images @ AFP | gettyimages.com)
P.J. Byrne’s performance as Irwin Winkler brings a kindly skeptic to the screen, spurred to do the right thing for Stallone and “Rocky” by Toby Kebbell’s Robert Chartoff. Kebbell’s comic timing spotlights Chartoff’s more-than-believable compassion as a producer who champions Stallone’s desire to play Rocky. Kebbell is superb.
In the film, Winkler and Chartoff bring the script to United Artists and beg for a $4 million budget. Sandy Maddox, played by Tracy Letts, begrudgingly green-lights the film with a $1 million budget and the impossible stipulation that production cannot fall one day behind schedule. Winkler and Chartoff need to find a director willing to accept the bargain.
Jay Duplass plays the demanding director of “Rocky,” John G. Avildsen, with blunt finesse, confessing immediately that he is difficult. Duplass’s intimidating, intense Avildsen agrees to work for low pay on a small budget with an unrealistic schedule. Although he could demand more because his lead actor in “Save the Tiger,” Jack Lemmon, recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor, Avildsen’s recent missteps make him available.
Avildsen had just been fired from directing “Serpico,” and he wanted to make “Rocky.” He said Stallone’s script is an in-depth character study hidden inside a boxing film that has the potential to be great, and he accepts the offer.
As Avildsen, Duplass plays a man uncompromisingly driven by his instincts. His timing is immaculate. The character is hell-bent on meeting the production parameters, and his order-barking becomes humorous when juxtaposed with the norms of the “Rocky” cast he’s trying to keep in line. Avildsen won the 1977 Academy Award for Best Director for “Rocky,” which launched him into A-list Hollywood.
Matt Dillon portrays a sharp-edged Frank Stallone Sr. as a heavy-handed father whose son loves him anyway, deepening the audience’s compassion for Stallone and giving permission to look past his father’s transgressions. The audience cannot bring itself to hate Stallone Sr., even when it should.
Saul Stein’s brief but impactful screen performance as Sal, a New York union representative with a mobster’s bravado, left the audience hoping to see more of him.
Stephan James appeared on screen with natural ease as Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in “Rocky.” Weathers’ companionship and steady support for Stallone feel genuine and heartfelt.
Maddox is the fictional yet amalgamated United Artists studio executive, whose character reminded audiences that an ogre waits under every bridge to success. Everyone has encountered a “Sandy” obstacle in their lives, and Letts’ performance makes Maddox easy to hate.
Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith introduces “I Play Rocky” at the 49th Denver Film Festival. (Melodie Miller /CU Independent)
With an ensemble working in unison, the joy behind the camera resonated in the finished film, creating a tour de force.
On opening night, the same spirit of togetherness moved from the set to the seats at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Welcoming the audience to the festival, Denver Film CEO Kevin Smith reminded people why they gather in theaters. Smith’s message carried an impact. He said movies connect people, regardless of the device they use, even “God forbid, your phone.” His message conveyed the idea that watching movies shoulder to shoulder with strangers turns a private experience into a communal one.
The Denver audience waits for the opening-night screening of “I Play Rocky” at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House during the 49th Denver Film Festival. (Melodie Miller /CU Independent)
When the lights dimmed, the opera house became one audience, quietly watching the drama unfold and then laughing, cheering and applauding in agreement. The full house experienced what Gamble had hoped for: sharing his love for the story.
The next day, Gamble traded the red carpet for a conversation with writers and the media at Denver’s Tattered Cover bookstore. For Gamble, “I Play Rocky” is personal. He told the group he began his career as a ghostwriter, with his work reaching cinemas without his name in the credits.
Chris Rosen of The Ankler interviews Peter Gamble at the Tattered Cover in Denver. (Melodie Miller / CU Independent)
“And so I felt unseen,” Gamble said.
That experience of being unseen drew Gamble to Stallone’s origin story, the tale of an actor whose talent went unnoticed by the film industry. The theme of making oneself seen runs through the film. Gamble’s script and personal story point to a larger message about why movies matter: they let audiences see the world through someone else’s eyes. A film becomes a shared reference point to discuss values, ideas and social issues. Films are a chance to experience perspectives people might not otherwise understand.
Gamble’s emotional and uplifting narrative and dialogue, seen and heard throughout “I Play Rocky,” lead the audience to believe the impossible is inevitable. The screenplay does its job well.
“Emotions are that which moves you,” Gamble said. “Movies are containers for emotions.”
50 years after a struggling actor refused to give up hope, Farrelly and Gamble turn Stallone’s dream of playing Rocky Balboa into history in “I Play Rocky.”
The film opens in theaters Nov. 6.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Melodie Miller at Melodie.Miller@colorado.edu.
