Review: Somebody Up There Likes Me

The story of Rocky Barbella, AKA Rocky Graziano (Paul Newman, in the film that really made him, yet was originally slated for James Dean), a former NY hoodlum, occasional tenant in several correctional facilities, and army deserter, turned middleweight boxer. Rocky’s dad (Harold J. Stone) was a former boxer who gave his career up to be with Rocky’s mother (Eileen Heckart), and as a result became an embittered, bullying loser who mistreats both mother and son. Sal Mineo (who looks about 12 compared to Newman and was actually 17 at the time) and Steve McQueen appear as Rocky’s hoodlum neighbourhood pals, whilst Robert Loggia is a crim who sees a boxer in Rocky, Everett Sloane becomes Rocky’s trainer, and Pier Angeli is Rocky’s love interest.

 

Although I wouldn’t say Paul Newman entirely convinces as boxer Rocky Graziano, it’s still fascinating to watch a still emerging (and soon to be great) actor/movie star still kinda raw and figuring it all out. Don’t get me wrong, Newman’s performance is still pretty good (and an actor doesn’t always have to completely disappear into the character), but I’ve always felt that Newman, like Robert De Niro, was one of the few ‘method’ actors who I could never see the wheels spinning while they were acting. Well, I could see them spinning at times here, and I also don’t think Newman’s tough guy Italian-American Noo Yawk accent was terribly convincing, either. However, while he’s not perfect casting, he gives it a damn good go, and although you never quite believe he truly is the character, he’s certainly interesting to watch. He perfectly conveys the strong anti-authority delinquent side of Rocky, as that’s kinda Newman’s wheelhouse and so he ultimately makes his casting work that way. You can certainly tell that he, Sal Mineo, and debutant Steve McQueen had ‘it’, even in this, that’s for sure.

 

Otherwise, this 1956 biopic (based on Graziano’s autobiography) from director Robert Wise (“West Side Story”, “The Body Snatcher”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) and screenwriter Ernest Lehman (“Sweet Smell of Success”, “West Side Story”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) is pretty standard yet solid stuff, with one major flaw (Well, aside from the fucking awful Perry Como title song. Let’s not even go there). I think it’s been horribly cut by editor Albert Akst (“Brigadoon”). It’s not episodic, just really poorly edited I think, which is surprising given Wise’s own background in editing films. Even more surprising? Akst earned an Oscar nomination for this. Wow. The other flaw, a minor one, is the surprisingly bad music score by Bronislau Kaper. Kaper’s work is normally top-notch and a highlight (“Bataan”, “Them!”, “The Scapegoat”), but here he just sounds like he’s banging on random keys on the piano for some scenes, like a four year-old.

 

Newman is pretty enjoyable in the lead (if too pretty and thin, albeit in good shape), but for me the standouts are an immediately impactful Howard J. Stone in the best performance of his I’ve seen (in only his third film), and the always excellent Everett Sloane (one of cinema’s most underappreciated character actors and one of the best), with able back-up by Eileen Heckart (who says a lot with just her face alone), a well-cast Sal Mineo, and it’s very interesting to see a young…ish Robert Loggia in his film debut. He doesn’t have a lot of scenes, but it still amazes me based on this that it took so long for him to become an in-demand character actor. I mean, his most fruitful period was the 1980s for cryin’ out loud, where he made several films a year. As for Stone (who played a wildly different character in another boxing movie from this period, the excellent “The Harder They Fall”), I think he was robbed of an Oscar nomination here. He’s that impressive as Rocky’s brutish, but ultimately pathetic and insecure father. Pier Angeli is probably the weak link in the cast and even she’s OK, actually.

 

The film’s depiction of working class hoodlum life here is pretty good and somewhat reminiscent of what Martin Scorsese would do in some of his films. It doesn’t surprise me given his background that Graziano made a success of things as a boxer, what surprises me is that he didn’t get killed in a street fight or something along the way. In fact, Graziano had such a colourful life that, at least in this film, the boxing stuff is the least interesting material (The final bout is pretty well-staged, though).

 

This isn’t a great biopic, nor is it a great boxing movie. Nothing earth-shattering and pretty poorly edited, the film is still worth seeing for the acting. Newman’s performance may not be great, but it definitely shows evidence of a great actor (and great movie star) coming along nicely. The terrific supporting cast helps enormously, and it’s an easy watch even if like me, you’re not a boxing fan. It’s worth it just to see Newman palling around with later rival McQueen on screen, decades before their competitiveness reached its zenith in “The Towering Inferno”.

 

Rating: B-