--- title: "Rocky Balboa" year: 2006 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/rocky-balboa" fi1m_score: 68 critics_score: 61 critics_reviews: 14 published: "2026-09-19T15:52:31.216113+00:00" updated: "2026-09-19T15:52:55.834021+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Rocky Balboa (2006) Directed by Sylvester Stallone · 1h 42m · MPA PG · Drama, Action **Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 61 from 14 reviews *In a sentence:* Stallone spends an hour mourning beautifully and then, out of habit, takes his shirt off > Stallone’s sixth outing as Rocky is smaller, sadder and better than anyone had a right to expect. The first hour, a widower telling old stories in a half-empty restaurant, is the best in the series since 1976. The fight is the part we could have done without. ## Synopsis Philadelphia, some years after Adrian’s death. Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) runs a small Italian restaurant named after her, telling the same fight stories to diners every night, and marks each anniversary by touring the old neighbourhood with his brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young). His son Robert (Milo Ventimiglia) works in an office and would rather not be Rocky’s son in public. In a bar Rocky recognises Marie (Geraldine Hughes), the girl he once walked home, now a barmaid with a teenage son, Steps (James Francis Kelly III). Meanwhile Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon (Antonio Tarver), the undefeated heavyweight champion, is booed for beating nobody worth beating, and a computer simulation decides a prime Rocky would have knocked him out. Dixon’s promoters see an exhibition. Rocky sees something else. ## Review Sixteen years after [*Rocky V*](https://film.one/film/rocky-v) (1990), Sylvester Stallone writes, directs and stars in a sixth film about the Philadelphia fighter, and the surprise is how little of it is about fighting. For most of its 102 minutes *Rocky Balboa* is a film about a widower who has run out of people to tell his stories to. It is small, slow and sad, and it is better than it has any right to be. The boxing arrives late, as if out of obligation, and it is the weakest thing in the film. The opening is a man taking a folding chair out of a tree. Rocky keeps it there so he can sit by Adrian’s grave, and on the anniversary of her death he drags Paulie (Burt Young) round the old neighbourhood: the pet shop where she worked, the rink where he took her skating, now a fenced lot. Clark Mathis shoots the city in winter greys and streetlamp orange, mostly handheld, and Franco-Giacomo Carbone hangs Rocky’s restaurant with framed fight photographs so the past is on every wall while he talks to diners about it. Spider Rico (Pedro Lovell), who fought him in the first film, eats there for nothing. We did not expect to be moved by any of this, and we were, chiefly because Stallone plays Rocky as a man who knows the stories bore people and tells them anyway. Young’s Paulie is the best he has been in the series, sour, ashamed and grieving in a way he will not name, and the film lets him be unkind about Adrian and then sorry. Geraldine Hughes plays Marie, the girl Rocky walked home in the first film, without a scrap of romance, which is the right call. Milo Ventimiglia, as the son who would rather not be Rocky’s son at the office, gets the speech the film is built around, about how life hits harder than any opponent and the trick is to keep moving. We knew Stallone had written it for himself, we could hear the seams, and it got us anyway. We were slightly embarrassed about that on the way home. Then the plot has to happen. Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon (Antonio Tarver) is an undefeated champion nobody likes, a computer simulation says a young Rocky would have beaten him, and his promoter, Lou DiBella playing himself, smells an exhibition. Tarver is a real boxer rather than an actor, and the film gives him a trainer (Henry G. Sanders), one scene about not being loved and not much else; he is a target, not a character. Rocky asks the state commission for a licence, is refused, and delivers a speech about the right to some pain that is overwritten and that Stallone plays with such conviction we let it go. The training montage follows, with the steps and the sides of beef, and Bill Conti brings back the fanfare he has been sitting on for an hour. It did what it has always done to us. The fight is shot to look like televised boxing, with the video sheen, the ringside commentators and the on-screen graphics. It is a bold idea and it does not work. Sean Albertson cuts the first hour with real patience, letting scenes sit until they are uncomfortable, and then cuts the fight into commentary-box angles so quickly we lose the shape of the ring. The first film’s fight was ugly and you always knew where both men were. Here we mostly know who has just been hit. Mike Tyson turns up at ringside as himself, which reminds us what a working heavyweight looks like and does the film no favours. Against the series this sits second, and a long way behind first. The 1976 film was a small picture about a lonely man given one chance, and every sequel after it swapped the loneliness for a rival and a montage. Stallone has gone back to the loneliness and found he still knows how to write it. What he cannot do is stop: every character gets a speech about the past, the simulation is a silly hinge for a whole third act, and the film explains its feelings after the faces have already done it. See it for the folding chair, for Young, and for a restaurant where the owner tells the same story every night and means it. It runs 102 minutes and carries a 12A. The best of it is over before anyone puts on gloves. *Fi1m score 68, published 19 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics come away warmer than they expected. Eight of the fourteen reviews are positive, and the praise clusters in two places: Stallone’s performance, which several call his best work in years, and the decision to strip the series back to the small-scale, grimier feel of the original. The widowed, ageing Rocky, the conversations about the past and the melancholy tone are what win the film its goodwill, with the training montage and the final fight judged to deliver what the series promises. The reservations are about the premise and the pace. Several critics find a near-sixty-year-old returning to the ring hard to swallow, and the first half is called slow and sentimental, with some overwritten speeches. The spread is wide. The Guardian mocks the film’s bid for dignity, the Los Angeles Times calls it a recycling of greatest hits, and Slant finds the solemnity turgid where it wants extravagance. Time Out settles for glorified TV special. The later retrospective pieces are gentler, crediting the years between entries with adding weight. ### Reviews we read (14) - **Empire**, Ian Freer (80/100, inferred): The film is both terrible and brilliant, remaining simple, sentimental and cocksure while recapturing the original's gritty feel and emotional moments through Stallone's affection for the character. It excels in nostalgia, training montages and the final fight's hyper-real pugilism despite some overwritten speeches and fuzzy motivation. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rocky-balboa-review/) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): The critic praises it as a stirring, grounded character drama and the most emotionally resonant in the series since the original, highlighting Stallone's best performance in years. They single out the relatable tale of aging and family relationships. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/rocky-balboa/4029971.article) - **The AV Club**, Jesse Hassenger (75/100, inferred): Rocky Balboa is part of the grittier, more melancholy phase of the series, picking up with a nearly 60-year-old Balboa who has lost his wife and gets an unexpected new shot at proving himself. It does this stuff better than Rocky V, gaining emotional heft from the years accumulated between entries. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-rocky-series-became-a-stallone-biography-with-a-gre-1798287392) - **Variety** (75/100, inferred): The review finds that time away has done the franchise good, leading to a surprisingly satisfying third-act bout after a slow start. The critic singles out the return to the grimier, small-scale sensibility of the original and the effective build toward the final fight for praise. [Read](https://variety.com/2006/film/reviews/rocky-balboa-1117932317/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, The Associated Press (70/100, inferred): The low-key, stripped-down production defies expectations by capturing the heart and soul of the original Rocky. Stallone's grass-roots approach and use of real locations reconnects with the character's endearing qualities, though the film hits some rocky patches in the ring scenes. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/review-rocky-balboa-146694/) - **The New York Times**, Stephen Holden (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film surprisingly not an embarrassment and notes that it goes the distance in spite of itself as a raw-boned fable with all heart. The critic singles out the enduring appeal of the character and his philosophy of the ring as what gives the story its modest credibility. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/movies/20rock.html) - **The Times**, James Christopher (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the melancholy tone and Stallone's commitment to the character, noting that only the most stony-hearted would deny the veteran beefcake one last shot. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/italy/rocky-nlv67rj69zp) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the premise of a 60-year-old Rocky returning to the ring wildly implausible and mocks the film's attempt at dignity, noting Stallone's aged appearance and the familiar training montage. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/jan/19/actionandadventure) - **Time Out**, Trevor Johnston (40/100, inferred): The review finds the film sluggish and sentimental but acknowledges Stallone's likeable presence and nostalgic appeal, ultimately calling it a glorified TV special and suggesting it's time to move on. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rocky-balboa-2) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (30/100, inferred): The critic views the film as one for gluttons for punishment and Stallone fans, describing it as a museum of Stallonic technology recycling greatest hits. The critic singles out the lack of fresh ideas and the absurdity of the premise as major complaints. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-dec-20-et-rocky20-story.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (30/100, inferred): The modest, character-driven early section exhibits a maturity absent from the cartoonish earlier sequels, but the earnest, flashback-riddled tale is thoroughly unnecessary. The real disappointment is that potential for entertaining extravagance is buried within its turgid solemnity. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/rocky-balboa/) - **Eye for Film**, Scott Macdonald (80/100, inferred): The critic finds Rocky Balboa a sad, somber and thoughtful film, the best in the series for decades, with Stallone delivering some of his finest work as an inarticulate but passionate and lovable Rocky grappling with loss. It excels in emotional conversations about the past and delivers the expected training and fight sequences with heart, though it includes implausible plotting and gooey reminiscing. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rocky-balboa-film-review-by-scott-macdonald) - **Consequence** (60/100, inferred): The first half is overly realistic and stalls on delivering the expected persevering fun of prior Rocky films. It ultimately becomes a traditional Rocky sequel with emotional payoff in the later sections. [Read](https://consequence.net/2015/11/yo-adrian-i-did-it-i-watched-all-five-rocky-sequels/) - **The Skinny**, Keir Hind (★★★): The film follows the familiar Rocky formula with an older Balboa getting another shot at glory after running a restaurant and mourning his wife. It is smartly written with gentle laughs and entertaining if predictable, serving as an appropriate swan-song for the character. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/rocky-balboa) ## Details - **Director:** Sylvester Stallone - **Director:** Sylvester Stallone - **Writer:** Sylvester Stallone - **Cinematography:** Clark Mathis - **Editor:** Sean Albertson - **Music:** Bill Conti - **Production design:** Franco-Giacomo Carbone - **Producer:** Charles Winkler, David Winkler, Kevin King - **Cast:** Sylvester Stallone as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa; Burt Young as Paulie Pennino; Antonio Tarver as Mason 'The Line' Dixon; Geraldine Hughes as Marie; Milo Ventimiglia as Robert 'Rocky' Balboa Jr.; Tony Burton as Tony 'Duke' Evers; A. J. Benza as L.C.; James Francis Kelly III as Steps - **Runtime:** 1h 42m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 20 December 2006 - **Genres:** Drama, Action - **Budget:** $24 million - **Box office:** $156 million ## Where to watch in the US - Pluto TV: free - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: add-on, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $14.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $14.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-19.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, JP, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Fat City* (1972): John Huston’s washed-up boxers in Stockton; the sadness Rocky only borrows, played straight. - *The Wrestler* (2008), Fi1m 85: Mickey Rourke as a broken showman still climbing into the ring; the honest version. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-wrestler.md) - *Creed* (2015), Fi1m 85: Stallone hands the gloves to Michael B. Jordan and gives his best late performance. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/creed.md) - *Requiem for a Heavyweight* (1962): Anthony Quinn as a fighter told to stop; the film Rocky’s restaurant scenes remember. - *The Boxer* (1997): Daniel Day-Lewis comes home to Belfast and a gym; boxing as the quiet part. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/rocky-balboa