Sly

This is a really well done look at the journey of Sylvester Stallone from a poor kid in Hell's Kitchen to a superstar. Stallone, as noted by rival Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the only person who spear-headed three blockbuster franchises-Rocky, Rambo, and The Expendables. He was a guy driven by passion, vision, and the belief that he had more to offer than people could see. I love how a senior Stallone walks us along this journey. We see his thought processes. We see his written notebooks. We see the physical locations where he grew up and where much of the pictures were shot. The personal interviews. The old movie footage. Everything about this makes the documentary greater than the sum of its parts.

A long-serving superstar that has lived a colorful life full of ups and downs, mostly in the public eye, getting a raw and open insight into the life and times of iconic Hollywood performer Sylvester Stallone is an appealing proposition but despite having the backing of its subject matter, director Thom Zimny's documentary feature released via Netflix's streaming platform doesn't ever feel like the quintessential examination of Stallone's life and despite being watchable throughout, feels like a missed opportunity for a deeper dive into a divisive figure that has stood the test of time.

Allotting most of its relatively brisk runtime to allow for Stallone to reminisce and ensure that the narrative of Zimny's film is directed into his favour, Sly never feels like it allows itself to veer off into the darker or more risky territory the best of these type of documentaries venture too as we are given some interesting career insights by the man of the moment and getting to hear about the likes of Rocky and Rambo's early days are unquestionably good value but you can't help but feel there was much more to explore and more talking heads that could've helped us explore the rise, fall and rise of Stallone over his 50 plus years in the industry.

Over these many years in the Hollywood system, Stallone has done it all from Oscars, public adoration and ridicule, personal overcomings, health issues and a constant need to try and prove that he is more than many credit him to be and his passion and commitment to his cause is one that anyone can get behind and Stallone's ability to pivot himself and his career multiple times is one of the most impressive examples in the history of cinema.

For any fan of cinema, from the most casual to the most hardcore there's going to be a moment in time where Stallone has played a part in your cinematic journey and as a piece that allows us to reflect back on the times gone by and all the moments Stallone has entertained or enthralled us, often against the odds, Sly acts as an easy to consume distraction that will most likely see viewers seek out one of his classics for a re-watch.

It's just a shame Zimny didn't make the most of his personal access to his subject matter and that the film itself didn't try do more than the bare basics to give us something more memorable, deserving of its unforgettable central figure.

Final Say -

A nice distraction and a product that's sure to appease long-term fans of Stallone and the Stallone brand, Sly never really gets out of first gear to make the most of its possibilities but as a simplistic exploration of the life and times of a Hollywood legend, Sly scraps by neatly enough.

3 Rocky statues out of 5

Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Sylvester Stallone executive produces -- meaning approves or disapproves -- the documentary examining his own life and work.

That's red flag number one. Even in an age of ubiquitous "documentaries" (they used to barely exist in the margins of filmmaking), such a project should aspire to illuminate its subject, warts and all.

Here, Sly makes an attempt at a mea culpa, lamenting how he should have spent more time with his family, yet inclusion of that family's story scarcely exists. I had no idea his son, Sage Stallone, had died in 2012 at age 36. And the only reference to that here are life dates shown on screen after the brief segment about Sage appearing in the ill-received Rocky V.

And what about Stallone's other son, Seargeoh? Yes, that's right, Stallone had two sons, and Seargeoh apparently was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Not that the documentary reveals that -- Seargeoh is never even mentioned; I found out only by searching online, and only after an image of the actor Milo Ventimiglia (who plays Rocky's grown-up son in 2006's "Rocky Balboa") inexplicably appeared beside the name "Seargeoh Stallone" when I Googled it. Try it. You'll see.

The real Seargeoh, apparently, has lived most of his life with his mother, Sasha Czack, now Stallone's ex.

Okay, maybe it's to protect the privacy of his children, and that's fine. But it's a conspicuous absence in a documentary ostensibly about a man's life. Which it is, to a large extent, especially about his childhood, and how his physically abusive (Sly implies this, though never directly says it) and "brow-beating" father may have pushed him to seek external validation from an audience, or crowd.

But the picture really focuses on the work, the ups and downs of Stallone's career, his regrets and his massive successes, and the way his two big franchises, especially the Rocky narrative, are really mirrors for his own life and career. Where this gets the most interesting, at least for this viewer, was when Stallone described these two world-famous characters as ends of a spectrum. Rambo is the broken hero with no home who dies alone. Rocky embraces humanity, and family, and is in turn embraced. Stallone admits he's both characters.

In "Sly," I appreciated this emphasis on the work. I make my own living as a suspense writer, have worked in film, and in my own much smaller and less famous way, have experienced a lot of the frustrations and joys. Every artist does, really. This telling of Sly's life seems like a letter to all artists, that they may aspire to such greatness at their own peril. That even with great success they may, like Sly, be left searching for inspiration, hoping to slow life down, hoping for another good fight.

There is a three-part series for Arnold Schwarzenegger and only one part for Sylvester Stallone. It's kind of a shame, especially since his life is at least as exciting, if not the most exciting. In the '70s, Sylvester Stallone was doing poorly, very poorly. And to see that once is incredible. An honorable man, with an honorable story. An intimate look, albeit explained in a somewhat monotonous way. It feels like the same people always have their say when they talk about Stallone or think they have something to say about him. A straightforward film about a person who has so much more to say than this film. All in all, a nice overview but not worthy of a person like Stallone.

This documentary's looking at the life of Sylvester Stallone is not much more than an extended interview with a few contributions from contemporaries. It does though in the end give you a pretty clear insight into the mind of the man, who to me always seemed to want to come back to his familiar franchises too often, rather than take on something new. I found it interesting then that he largely seems to accept this point as he often found himself uncomfortable making films that were to a large degree outside his control and felt more at home with Rocky and Rambo as can be seen by the quite extraordinary array of rather self indulgent memorabilia in his home. It was also interesting that outside the franchises he controlled, in nearly all cases, he seemed to have needed to change every script, character or ending to suit his personal vision on what the film should say.

The man himself though seems to have been influenced, understandably, by a very rough childhood, controlled by a deeply unpleasant and seemingly jealous father who treated his children appallingly. That said it seems to have toughened and shaped Stallone who ultimately now seems a pleasant person comfortable with life and the most important things in it. In the end you simply have to admire how this guy has dragged himself from nothing and built himself into such an American icon.