Here we are, ten years of #StalloneMonth. Over time I have decided to stop writing, it does not bring me the same joy as it did, but you know what I do still love? Movies. I just adore movies. And one of the many actors that keeps me going back to the big screen is none other than Sylvester Stallone. As I am going through his filmography, it is always hard to choose the four movies I will cover, and honestly, I am slowly running out, having done this for ten years now, it is no wonder. This man is a machine, and I hope he will be making movies for many years to come! Let's just jump into the next one: Jake Farris (
Dolly Parton) enters a bet with her boss, and in order to win it she has to turn a simple New York cabbie into a singer. The person she finds is
Nick (
Stallone), and they spend time together long enough to not just make Nick someone the crowd can cheer for, but they also develop feelings for each other. In an unsurprising event,
Jake almost loses the bet, but then, in the end, wins anyway, as it is in every single rom-com where a bet is involved.
I have read that this film was not the stellar success that you think it could be with such names as Stallone and the one and only Dolly Parton attached to it, but in fact, it was very badly received. Stallone himself has admitted to having regrets over taking this role and having turned down others, but honestly, watching it now: it was fine. I have seen far worse films, and I'm telling you, someone saw something when they put together young
Stallone and young
Parton on screen together. It is a silly film, and you have seen this plot a hundred times before. Winning the bet is not the point, the moral victory is, of admitting to have done the wrong things for the right reasons, and learning from our mistakes.
I have been going on and on about writing my dissertation on Italian American representation, and in all fairness, in most of his films Stallone does play somebody of that community.
I was lucky to see this film, because, although I am 100% that none of my opponents know it and are unlikely to bring it up at the defense, I have a very good speech prepared already as to why I will not include this one, however, here on my blog I can tell you a bit about my thoughts on representation. Nick, as we find out early on, comes from an Italian American family, where, when he is not driving a cab, he helps out at the funeral home that his family runs. There is a scene where he eats with his family, and I have analyzed several scenes of this kind, where the Italian American family talks with a stronger accent, and the food is the centerpiece of the interactions. And this film is ultimately the perfect example as to how Italian Americans started to assimilate more and more and became just Americans. Most of the films that I have analyzed still focus on the importance of community and how that community puts certain restraints on its members. None of that comes into play in this film, and
Nick is his own person and his own man. It is interesting to see that the film decided to gives us a glimpse into an Italian American family, but overall avoided all stereotypes that were typical of the films that had Italians as subject in the 1980s.
So, watch it? It is honestly not the best film I have ever seen, but after having read the reception to it, where are far worse movies out there. The casting alone in it is great, and Dolly Parton sings a lot, which is truly the only thing I needed to grab some popcorn and enjoy myself.
We have come to the end of
#StalloneMonth for 2024. I'll be honest with you, writing these has proven to be more of a challenge than I thought it was going to be. I had fun writing, but keeping to the weekly deadline was impossible... I honestly don't know how I kept doing that for ten consecutive years! I think, that as long as there are
Stallone movies out there, I am gonna keep going, but it is an interesting experiment to see how I approach deadlines differently as time passes and I get older.
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