Opening in theaters on November 6th is ‘I Play Rocky’, directed by Peter Farrelly (‘Green Book’) and starring Anthony Ippolito (‘The Offer’) as Sylvester Stallone, as well as AnnaSophia Robb (‘Rebel Ridge’), Matt Dillon (‘There’s Something About Mary’), P. J. Byrne (‘The Wolf of Wall Street’), Toby Kebbell (‘Fantastic Four’), Stephan James (‘If Beale Street Could Talk’), Jay Duplass (‘Other Mommy’), and Tracy Letts (‘Ford v Ferrari’). Related Article: Director Peter Farrelly and AnnaSophia Robb…
Opening in theaters on November 6th is ‘I Play Rocky’, directed by Peter Farrelly (‘Green Book’) and starring Anthony Ippolito (‘The Offer’) as Sylvester Stallone, as well as AnnaSophia Robb (‘Rebel Ridge’), Matt Dillon (‘There’s Something About Mary’), P. J. Byrne (‘The Wolf of Wall Street’), Toby Kebbell (‘Fantastic Four’), Stephan James (‘If Beale Street Could Talk’), Jay Duplass (‘Other Mommy’), and Tracy Letts (‘Ford v Ferrari’). Related Article: Director Peter Farrelly and AnnaSophia Robb… Anthony Ippolito stars as Sylvester Stallone in ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Opening in theaters on November 6th is ‘I Play Rocky‘, directed by Peter Farrelly (‘Green Book‘) and starring Anthony Ippolito (‘The Offer‘) as Sylvester Stallone, as well as AnnaSophia Robb (‘Rebel Ridge‘), Matt Dillon (‘There’s Something About Mary‘), P. J. Byrne (‘The Wolf of Wall Street‘), Toby Kebbell (‘Fantastic Four‘), Stephan James (‘If Beale Street Could Talk‘), Jay Duplass (‘Other Mommy’), and Tracy Letts (‘Ford v Ferrari‘).
Related Article: Director Peter Farrelly and AnnaSophia Robb Talk ‘I Play Rocky’
Initial Thoughts
Anthony Ippolito stars as Sylvester Stallone in ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hollywood loves movies about itself, and audiences love biopics, so why not combine both? That’s what director Peter Farrelly and writer Peter Gamble do in ‘I Play Rocky,’ the story of how Sylvester Stallone managed, against all odds, to write and star in his breakout 1976 film ‘Rocky,’ which made him a star, won the Oscar for best picture and became one of the enduring classics of its era.
The true story and the movie parallel each other, making this a meta and thoroughly inspiring underdog story about the creation of an underdog story, and at the center of it is a fantastic, eerily on-the-money performance by Anthony Ippolito as Stallone, channeling both the actor’s blunt exterior and thoughtful, determined interior life.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Kiki Seto as Talia Shire and Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone in ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Sylvester Stallone wants badly to be an actor, but his less than handsome features and guttural voice aren’t exactly movie star material. Desperate and even homeless at one point (sleeping on the street with his newly adopted and equally homeless dog, Butkus), he takes a role in a softcore sex film before settling into a job as a ticket-taker at a movie theater, where he meets and woos soon-to-be-wife Sasha.
The couple head out to Los Angeles, where Stallone (who abandons his stage name of ‘Mike’ at Sasha’s urging) begins writing scripts at the urging of his wife, who senses there’s a hidden talent there. His insights into film also impress two producers, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, who invite him to drop off a script for them to read. And he does – a number of them (including titles like ‘Paradise Alley’ and ‘F.I.S.T.,’ which were later made into real movies), which further suggest to the producers that he’s onto something.
Again broke, forced to sell his beloved Butkus just to make a little extra money, and facing impending fatherhood, Stallone is sitting distraught in a bar when the famous championship bout between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner comes on the TV. Inspired by Wepner going 15 rounds against the champ, Stallone heads home and in three and a half days writes a screenplay about a down-and-out boxer named Rocky Balboa – a script that Chartoff and Winkler agree to shop to the studios.
(L to R) Director Peter Farrelly with actor Anthony Ippolito during the production of ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
There’s only one problem: Stallone insists on playing Rocky himself, while the producers and studio head Sandy Maddox are already throwing around names like James Caan, Burt Reynolds, and Ryan O’Neal. And no amount of money – not even a staggering $300K – can make Stallone change his mind, even if it means losing his biggest chance to break through in Hollywood. He writes, yes, but he wants to act, and he wrote this movie for himself.
That’s the choice at the heart of ‘I Play Rocky,’ but Farrelly and Gamble wisely decide not to make it too heavy-handed or pseudo-tragic, leaning into the absurdity of the scenario. This especially comes to the fore when – not exactly a spoiler here – filming on ‘Rocky’ does begin with Stallone in the lead.
(L to R) Director Peter Farrelly with actors Anthony Ippolito and Stephan James during the production of ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
With a budget of barely $1 million – not even enough to hire a wardrobe department – and all sorts of stipulations in the deal, it seems like the studio almost wants its lead to fail so he can be fired and a real star swapped in. But Stallone persists, learning how to box on the fly, battering his body relentlessly during the shoot, and keeping the movie on track, to the dawning respect of the producers and oddball director John G. Avildsen.
While poking fun at the Hollywood machine, the film also pays respect to the filmmaking craft and lovingly recreates a number of iconic moments from ‘Rocky’ itself, with the story within the movie neatly paralleling Stallone’s real-life drive to make it. The end result is inspiring on both levels, and the payoff for Sylvester Stallone – in the movie and real life – is earned beyond any measure anyone thought possible.
Cast and Performances
(L to R) Toby Kebbell as Robert Chartoff, AnnaSophia Robb as Sasha Czack, P.J. Byrne as Irwin Winkler, Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone, and Jay Duplass as John Avildsen in ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
This movie lives or dies on its lead’s performance, and luckily Anthony Ippolito comes through here with flying colors. He’s got the voice down perfectly to an almost chilling degree, not to mention the heavy-lidded stare, the imposing body language, and the sense that there is a restless intelligence boiling under the surface (‘I’m no Einstein, but I’ve cracked open a book or two,’ he says at one point). Then Ippolito adds a whole layer as he plays Stallone playing Rocky – an understated piece of business that is pretty brilliant.
AnnaSophia Robb does what she can with the role of Sasha – sassy and defensive, then dutiful and loyal, a dependable sounding board and support system for Stallone without much of an inner life that we can see. She makes it shine through her own grace and her chemistry with Ippolito. Toby Kebbell and P.J. Byrne are a terrific comic team as Chartoff and Winkler, while Jay Duplass brings a quirky energy to the role of Avildsen.
The movie’s two scene-stealers are Stephan James as Carl Weathers, full of bravado and cockiness in his audition for the role of Apollo Creed, and Tracy Letts, who delivers his always welcome acidic touch to the composite role of studio head Sandy Maddox. Letts has no doubt run into this kind of self-important exec numerous times and nails the arrogance and impatience.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone and Stephen James as Carl Weathers in ‘I Play Rocky’, from Amazon MGM Studios. Photo Credit: Claire Folger. © 2026 Amazon Content Services LLC. All Rights Reserved.
What makes ‘I Play Rocky’ even more fun are the nuggets of delicious movie trivia that pop up throughout, including that ‘Rocky’ was one of the first films to use cinematographer Garrett Brown’s new invention, the Steadicam; that the producers mortgaged their homes to pay for Rocky and Adrian’s crucial date at the ice rink when the budget ran out; and that neither Stallone nor Talia Shire really knew how to skate during that sequence..
There are also wonderful moments like Chartoff and Winkler sitting in a trailer, listening for the first time to composer Bill Conti’s now-iconic ‘Rocky’ fanfare. ‘I don’t know,’ moans an exhausted, doubtful Winkler. ‘Who does he think this guy is, General Patton?’ Only in Hollywood.
Some of the events may be true, some may be apocryphal or even made up by Gamble’s screenplay, but details like this, the spot-on period settings, haircuts, and atmosphere, and the light-hearted but still heartfelt interplay of real life and the fantasyland of movies all coalesce to make ‘I Play Rocky’ as much of a crowd-pleaser as the movie that it chronicles.
‘I Play Rocky’ receives a score of 90 out of 100.
Anthony Ippolito in ‘I Play Rocky’. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
What is the plot of ‘I Play Rocky’?
Struggling actor Sylvester Stallone writes a screenplay called ‘Rocky’ and refuses to sell it unless he plays the title character himself, even at the risk of losing his one chance to get the movie made.
Who is in the cast of ‘I Play Rocky’?
Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone
AnnaSophia Robb as Sasha Czack
Matt Dillon as Frank Stallone Sr.
P. J. Byrne as Irwin Winkler
Toby Kebbell as Robert Chartoff
Stephan James as Carl Weathers
Tracy Letts as Sandy Maddox
Jay Duplass as John G. Avildsen
Kiki Seto as Talia Shire
Robert Morgan as Burgess Meredith
‘I Play Rocky’ opens in theaters on November 6th.
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