The winning idea behind screenwriter Peter Gamble and director Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky was to retrace the making of a classic 20th century triumph-of-the-underdog saga by fashioning the behind-the-scenes story into its own rousing shot of underdog triumph. Sure, Rocky was the quintessential boomer movie — the top-grossing film of 1976 and an Oscar winner for best picture the following year. But pretty much every generation since has ensured that it remains an influential pop-culture landmark half a century later, its message of self-belief, resilience and determination against stiff odds still a resonant evocation of the American…
