Rocky Balboa Fights Late Middle Age

OK, it's really Sylvester Stallone. But the actor seems to in a reflective mood in advance of the release of his new movie Rocky Balboa. He told Newsweek:

... "It nags me that I took the easy way instead of the high road," (Stallone) says. "But everyone makes mistakes. I look around at people my age, and I can see it in their eyes—a kind of bittersweet reflection: 'I didn't live the life that I wanted, and now I've got all this stuff I want to say, but nobody wants to hear it.' I was feeling that, and if you don't get it out, it can become a beast that tears you apart."

... "I don't understand aging gracefully," he says. "I'll always be at war with that. I'd rather age ungracefully, kicking and screaming.

... "You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they're still the same lonely, insecure people," Stallone says. "You think you've got it all figured out, but then you turn 60 and there's still this little hole inside you. You realize, we're always going to be somewhat half full."

Costar Talia Shire (Adrian) says the sixty year old Stallone is trying find a meaning for the next stage of his life:

... "The baby-boomer generation is rewriting aging, but we're sort of struggling with it," says Talia Shire. "We've been given this new chunk of time, and we don't yet understand its meaning. Surely it's not about looking like you're 40 forever. It has to be about some kind of wisdom, some new way we can share ourselves with the younger generation. Sylvester is trying to explore that new continent."

The good news for Stallone: he may find his audience. Newsweek's Sean Smith says that "the movie, written and directed by Stallone, is not only not embarrassing, it's a provocative exploration of heroism and aging, and provides a poignant exit for a character that has become a baby-boomer icon of American manhood." Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman says despite his bias against the movie going in, "damned if Stallone doesn't tap right back into the Rocky charm."

Rocky Balboa opens December 20th.

---
Rocky Balboa trailer (Quicktime) here.