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Sylvester Stallone had one request for Peter Farrelly when the director set out to make a movie about making “Rocky”: He wanted an unknown to play him.
Farrelly did just that, casting Anthony Ippolito as Stallone in this 128-minute film from Amazon MGM Studios — and Ippolito delivers a performance that will no doubt land him in best actor conversations at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Ippolito, whose only really notable role prior to playing Stallone in “I Play Rocky,” is that of a young Al Pacino in “The Offer,” an HBO limited series about the making of “The Godfather,” but Ippolito crushes it as Stallone. Before my interview with Ippolito, I had to look up whether he wore a prosthetic to make him look more like Rocky — he did not, yet he manages to truly become Stallone in this film. It’s as if Amazon, in all its wealth, engineered someone to play Stallone. Coming out of the theater, you’ll likely talk first about his performance, not the movie itself, which is genuinely impressive given the source material for “I Play Rocky.”
The supporting cast is solid; Tracy Letts is especially hypnotic on screen as studio executive Sandy Maddox, while Jay Duplass as “Rocky,” director John G. Avildsen stands out despite limited screen time. AnnaSophia Robb delivers one of the film’s stronger performances as Stallone’s first wife, Sasha Czack, bringing warmth and emotional depth to a character who is given perhaps too little room to develop. Most of her screen time comes in the first half of the film, which covers Stallone’s early years and drags at points as it lingers a second too long on the back-and-forth between Maddox and Stallone as he tries to buy him out.
Throughout the film, there are times when it’s clear that “I Play Rocky” is an Amazon MGM movie, not one by A24 or Warner Bros. — and not just because of its portrayal of labor unions. The film’s cinematography resembles a streaming production and takes away the grittiness of Philadelphia that the original “Rocky” film thrived on.
In the second half, the film really picks up and becomes worth the price of admission — likely in part because it starts showing recreations of scenes from “Rocky,” a decidedly better film — but I still think Ippolito’s performance in everything in between the Rocky recreations becomes particularly compelling here. You feel it when he breaks his hand punching frozen meat, you root for him to push through self-doubt during production and maybe cry during a scene that I won’t spoil here.
Credit to Peter Gamble, who wrote this film and Farrelly: the film still holds tension, even though we know exactly what will happen. Even as we watch Stallone navigate budget constraints and production setbacks, we know none of it will stop the film from succeeding. Yet Gamble’s screenplay manages to keep us invested.
If you’re in Philadelphia, I would recommend seeing this in theaters. During my early screenings, watchers were genuinely out of their seats, cheering on moments that mention or show Philly and particularly iconic “Rocky” scenes. It’s a fun movie to see with a good audience, and what better audience will you find than one with a real connection to this film?
All in all, this film could’ve been much worse. Farrelly could’ve leaned into the fanfare and made “I Play Rocky” a victory lap for “Rocky” on the film’s 50th anniversary. Ippolito could’ve turned his role as Stallone into an impersonation rather than a performance. But they didn’t, and this movie is good.
Is it prestige cinema? No. Is it fun, and does it feature one of the better performances of the year in Ippolito? Yes.
My review: 3/5 stars.
