You have to understand… I grew up with Rocky.

I saw the first Rocky on TV. I saw Rockys II-V in the theaters, three of the four with my dad. I’m from Philly where we treat Rocky with more reverence than we treat real sports figures.

I loved the first two movies. I enjoyed III as a fun movie, I hate admitting that I stood and cheered (with my dad) with Rocky IV. I even watched Rocky V a second time when I saw it on TV.

And when I heard that Stallone was making Rocky Balboa, I cringed. Then I saw the previews. Then I got excited. I decided I had to see it, but that I’d go in with no expectations.

I saw it tonight. I loved it. Is it Stallone’s metaphor for his own life? Sure… but hey, so was Rocky. Did I love it in part because there were scenes in the movie that were a block from the theater? Of course. Does it mean more to see this movie in Philly, yep.

And is it a totally unbelievable, hokey, silly movie? Of course. But it also is a wonderful coda to the character, and it returns to the roots of the story. It’s a slow movie that cares about its characters and shows what we originally loved in Rocky, the character. He’s an optimist, and he’s a sweet, caring guy. And, let’s face it, no movie has ever done the "inspiring training montage" sequence as well as the Rocky movies.

I saw the movie at the Roxy, one of Philly’s more artsy movie theaters, and even in an artsy theater (and all you need to know about Philly is that Rocky Balboa was playing in an art-house theater), folks were cheering during the fight seasons, and everyone stayed for the credits.

And hey, everyone is allowed to believe that they’ve got one last great moment in them, aren’t they?