Did you people see the same film I saw?

Best movie ever!

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Much of the Success that can be Found in this Biopic of Hoodlum Turned Middleweight Champ Rocky Graziano, must go to Director Robert Wise. His Decision to Film only the Night Scenes at the Studio and the Daytime Scenes on Location, add a Noirish Look and Enhances the Films Success.Paul Newman is OK Playing the Larger than Life Boxer and Manages to keep just a Heartbeat from Caricature. The Outstanding Supporting Cast is Highlighted by Pierre Angeli and Everett Sloane with Good Work from everyone else, contribute to the overall Verismillitude, Dramatized Sure, but Not too Much.The Fight Scenes are Great and Work just Fine and the Editing throughout the Picture is Excellent Moving things along at a Stunning Pace. Everything Comes Together to make this a Fine Fight Film.Made Paul Newman a Star. It Set the Box-Office Champ on a Career and He Never Looked Back. The whole Production Team seems to be On the Same Card and They Made this an Above Average Boxing Movie and a Very Good Movie Overall.

Remember, before you judge this film harshly, it was a biopic, and that meant there were limits as to where the story could go. Unlike for example Rocky, where the only limits to what he could do or whom he could fight were self-imposed by Stallone himself. Late his career, Newman became known for his "H" series (Hud, Harper, Hombre) and tended to play every part the same way. But in this biopic, we see a very unique character emerge -- a guy with a natural knockout punch that will do whatever he has to do to avoid authority figures -- and right off the top of the film, the audience relates to the character and enjoys the exposition. Especially endearing are the courting scenes with Pier Angeli. Newman is so subtle in these that you almost feel like he would rather be in the ring with a brawler than trying to tell his girl how he feels. Not perfect but very few fight movies are. Well worth watching.

Paul Newman arrived as a screen star with his performance as street tough Rocky Barbella, the first of many anti-hero roles for one of the best anti-heroes in Hollywood history. But "Somebody Up There Likes Me" plays more for the heartstrings as Barbella transforms himself into honest boxer (and real-life famous middleweight) Rocky Graziano.Newman looks a bit old to play Barbella in his street-kid days, and his Lower East Side diction doesn't convince however many H's he drops. But the film challenges his sturdy charisma by having him play a nasty hood, not to mention saddling him with some hoary lines when pressed to explain why he's so bad."I try tuh turn da leaf, but I can't make it!" Rocky begs his weeping mother (Eileen Heckart) early on. "Sumtin inside of me! I try, and I can't make it!"The film rises above such tinniness with performances by Newman, Heckart, and others who dare to play their parts as if their lives depended on it, as was maybe the case for a then-struggling Newman. Helping also is a surprisingly fun turn in the script. Much of the early heavy melodrama gives way agreeably to a comic sensibility that showcases Newman's sly strengths in that department.Writer Ernest Lehman was a frequent collaborator with director Robert Wise, and they seem to draw the best from each other here. Wise knows he has a melodrama, and sells it with piquant characters and on-location shooting in Barbella's Lower East Side neighborhood that makes the film feel alive. Lehman keeps his story moving while creating a romantic subplot (utilizing the delightful Pier Angeli) that for once doesn't slow down a sports movie.Make no mistake, clichés do abound. When Rocky gets in trouble, it's announced in newspapers with double banner headlines. When he has a bad dream, he starts from the bed like he got zapped in the foot. There are not one but two friendly Jewish-uncle figures ready to counsel Rocky with wise good humor when he's feeling low.I'm not sure what the point was of a lengthy subplot involving a crook from Rocky's past who tries to get him to take a dive; it was based on the historical record but is poorly integrated into the movie. But welcome to the movies anyway, Robert Loggia. It's nice to have you with us.Also welcome here future Disney star Dean Jones and King of Cool Steve McQueen, whom Wise gives a very cool intro by having him literally swipe at you with a switchblade."Somebody Up There Likes Me" is famous both for who is in it and who wasn't: This was supposed to be James Dean's next role before his fatal crash. I wonder how the gentler, anemic Dean would have done playing self-described "scum of the slums" Barbella/Graziano. Certainly he could not have sold the climactic bout with Tony Zale as Newman does with his scowling brio, or carried off the moonier, playful moments that come to define Graziano in the second half."Somebody Up There" may not be perfect, but it delivers a warm and resonant introduction to Newman and a boxing film still punching its weight 56 years on.

Director Robert Wise's second movie about boxing, "Somebody Up There Likes Me" is just as gritty as his earlier movie "The Set Up" with Robert Ryan. "Somebody Up There Likes Me" is a biography of 'the hard knocks' life that real-life boxer Rocky Graziano rebounded from to become a media celebrity in the ring. Paul Newman steps outside of his usual easy going demeanor to play Rocky as a tough guy who got a lot of bad breaks, especially from his pugilist pop who socked him around as a kid, before things got better for him.Indeed, this MGM movie is a formulaic biography with all the right elements and some contrivances to boot, but Wise directs it well, particularly the boxing scenes, and he benefits from a strong cast, especially McQueen in a pre "Blob" role as a juvenile delinquent. Rocky really had a terrible upbringing and a mean-spirited dad (Harold J. Stone at his meanest), but he manages to hold on long enough to win in the end. He suffers through prison as well as a military court-martial with a dishonorable discharge. Gripping black & white photography gives this movie a memorable look and the skyline shots of New York with the bridges looming up in the distance over the tops of the tenements are evocative.Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Sal Mineo and Eileen Herckart round out a solid cast. There are is inevitable scene where Rocky has to refuse taking a dive. He winds up behind bars early on as a rebellious youth. Newman proves that he can be as good if not better than Marlon Brando here as he portrays a character who isn't the brightest bulb in the lighting system. Definitely worth watching.