Stallone on Netflix: Beyond the Muscles, the father chicken and protector who reveals the only regret of his career

Sylvester Stallone. Sometimes nicknamed: cunning. A household name, the film legend is so big that we forget that his beginnings as an actor were difficult. Due to an atypical physique that emphasizes the facial paralysis that freezes in the left corner of his mouth, Sylvester Stallone would have a thousand reasons to refuse acting.

Raised by an abusive father, the American actor and director confides in the Stallone documentary Stallone, dedicated to him by Netflix, that the love of society replaced the love that his parents did not give him. Which gives more resonance to the violence that many failures in his career have represented for him.

“Sly’s success has nothing to do with it” Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of the speakers of the film, recalls. Unable to land bigger roles than the big boys in the background, Stallone decided to make his own destiny and write the script himself that would land him his first starring role: The Rock.

go the distance

The idea for this somewhat slow but terribly attractive boxer character came to him after filming Hands in the Pockets. The freedom to improvise and write his own dialogue set Sly on a path that would later lead him to rock screenwriting influenced by Mean Streets and On the Waterfront.

If he hadn’t claimed it at the time of the film’s release, Sylvester Stallone now no longer hesitates to qualify Rocky as a romance rather than a boxing film. An observation that is nonetheless evident, especially since the feature film ends in defeat, but also with a sense of victory. “to go the distance”.

This unwavering optimism has become both a trademark of Stallone’s cinema and a philosophy of life. With both successes and failures, the latter’s career has been nothing but a struggle led by the eternal outsider facing the various obstacles of existence.

Thus, after a twenty-year career as a leading actor, Sly was still a mere novice when he finally saw the opportunity to play opposite his idol Robert De Niro in Copeland. Not much impressed, what no one expected in this prestige film, the raging bull actor took it out of bounds thanks to his improvisation skills.

“I hate sad endings”

Now 77-year-old Sylvester Stallone seems to have retired from acting. The father of three daughters who have reached adulthood (but also two sons: Sage, who died in 2012, and Sergio, who was diagnosed with autism), the rock translator only regrets seeing his children grow up in his absence.

Her home, filled with art and memorabilia from her filmography, looks desperately empty now that her children are living on their own. Threatened with divorce by his wife Jennifer a few years ago, Stallone did not hesitate to put his career on hold to be close to his family.

“I hate sad endings” At the end of the documentary, he confides in what can be described as the most optimistic actor in the history of American cinema. Of course, this new Netflix production doesn’t teach us much about Stallone’s career, but this honest and authentic portrayalAction hero The cult is still worth a detour.

Recommended for fans of the character, of course, but also for fans of great stories with happy endings…

The documentary Sly: Stallone by Stallone is now available on Netflix.

Discover the list of movies currently available on the platform!