After watching the film, I was left puzzled by just what the film makers were trying to accomplish here. With a title like "Rocky Marciano", one would think it would trace the entire history of the former boxing legend, but it never even got around to the match that made him World Heavyweight Champion. In fact, the feature bout of this story in which he took on Joe Louis was almost inconsequential in light of Marciano's actual career. Louis, in 1951 was at the end of his comeback bid and nowhere near as fit as the actor who portrayed him (Duane Davis).
The film deserves some credit for casting Jon Favreau as Rocky. He has an amazing resemblance to Marciano, both facially and in terms of physical stature, designed to ooze menace in the ring. From what I've read, he also managed to mimic much of Marciano's ring style with the low crouch and hammer-like punches. The major kick I personally got out of the story was catching Marciano wearing his 'Greenwood Lake Training Camp' jersey; that town is only about a twenty minute drive down the road from where I live, straddling the New York/New Jersey border.
Probably what bothered me the most was the way the story was brought to an end, giving one the impression that the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis was practically on his death bed giving Marciano sound advice to get back to his wife and family as the things that matter most in life. Which was fine, but in fact, Louis lived another twelve years beyond Marciano's death in a plane crash on August 31, 1969. If one stays with the film's chronology, Louis would have been treated around that time for cocaine addiction or a possible drug overdose; he was actually admitted to a hospital for that condition in June of 1969.
I picked up an intriguing quote by Rocky that had to do with the Marciano-Louis bout depicted in the picture. He commented once - "I saw in Joe in particular and in several other fighters that you should never outstay your welcome in boxing. If you have two or three fights too many it can have terrible consequences". For his part, Marciano followed his own advice after announcing his retirement while still champion. He couldn't be tempted out of retirement even for huge paydays against Floyd Patterson or Sonny Liston after putting together a record of forty nine wins against no professional losses, a record that still stands today.
Note**** The Marciano quote is from the book "Crown of Thorns", by Norman Giller and Neil Duncanson
The film deserves some credit for casting Jon Favreau as Rocky. He has an amazing resemblance to Marciano, both facially and in terms of physical stature, designed to ooze menace in the ring. From what I've read, he also managed to mimic much of Marciano's ring style with the low crouch and hammer-like punches. The major kick I personally got out of the story was catching Marciano wearing his 'Greenwood Lake Training Camp' jersey; that town is only about a twenty minute drive down the road from where I live, straddling the New York/New Jersey border.
Probably what bothered me the most was the way the story was brought to an end, giving one the impression that the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis was practically on his death bed giving Marciano sound advice to get back to his wife and family as the things that matter most in life. Which was fine, but in fact, Louis lived another twelve years beyond Marciano's death in a plane crash on August 31, 1969. If one stays with the film's chronology, Louis would have been treated around that time for cocaine addiction or a possible drug overdose; he was actually admitted to a hospital for that condition in June of 1969.
I picked up an intriguing quote by Rocky that had to do with the Marciano-Louis bout depicted in the picture. He commented once - "I saw in Joe in particular and in several other fighters that you should never outstay your welcome in boxing. If you have two or three fights too many it can have terrible consequences". For his part, Marciano followed his own advice after announcing his retirement while still champion. He couldn't be tempted out of retirement even for huge paydays against Floyd Patterson or Sonny Liston after putting together a record of forty nine wins against no professional losses, a record that still stands today.
Note**** The Marciano quote is from the book "Crown of Thorns", by Norman Giller and Neil Duncanson