Can Being a Crowdpleaser Carry ‘I Play Rocky’ All the Way to the Oscars?

The Academy already has a reputation for being navel-gaze-y at times, but is it really ready to award a film that literally ends with a real-life clip of the Oscars?

“I Play Rocky,” directed by Peter Farrelly, has received the kind of rapturous applause at its recent TIFF premiere — similar to “Bunker” at Venice — that has put pundits in a tizzy, with some declaring that the Amazon MGM Studios release being a Best Picture nominee is not an “If,” but a “When.”

The film casts newcomer Anthony Ippolito as Sylvester Stallone in the most down and out period of his life — homeless, jobless, and entertaining auditions for pornographic films — before finally meeting his first wife Sasha (AnnaSophia Robb) and being convinced to write his own scripts.

One of those screenplays eventually made it to producers Robert Chartoff (Toby Kebbell) and Irwin Winkler (P.J. Byrne) who, at this point in their careers, had made films like “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “Point Blank.” The pair take Stallone under their wing (sort of), and he writes “Rocky.” But while the producers love it, but can’t seem to sell a studio on the film starring the then-unknown Stallone, nor will Stallone abandon his dream of taking on the titular role.

It is a true underdog story with art imitating life in a similar vein to “Mank” or “The Hours” or “Capote”—three previous Best Picture nominees — though with a vastly different tone that bridges the humor between Farrelly’s previous work with his brother Brother, and the more serious tone of his Best Picture winner “Green Book.” Jay Duplass as real-life “Rocky” director John Avildsen and Tracy Letts as the fictional executive Sandy Maddox, a composite of different studio heads from the time period, deliver the most laugh lines, including quite a few prescient digs at Paramount Pictures.

Credit where credit is due, Farrelly — a Best Original Screenplay Oscar winner — does know a good script when he sees one, and tees up burgeoning screenwriter Peter Gamble to break out as an awards contender for his first studio film. But that is probably the only major aspect that sets it apart from “Michael,” another biopic of a pop culture icon from recent history. Both Farrelly and Antoine Fuqua, the director of the latter film, are making something more broad than artful. And Lionsgate release “Michael” has one huge leg up on “I Play Rocky”: a billion dollar gross, which is a lot to catch up to.

While Amazon does have the money to manage dual Best Picture campaigns, they are still better off prioritizing spring hit “Project Hail Mary,” which may have skipped out on the type of film festivals that where it could have won awards, but proved to be a crowdpleaser on its own steam.

“I Play Rocky” is not down and out for the count, as far as the awards race goes, considering how much it caters to the perceived interests of Oscar voters. But in already packed categories like Best Director or Best Actor, the film is even more of a dark horse than its title character.