Generally, movies that tell the “real version” of some other story are cheap and desperate attempts to remake or cash in on a popular thing. But those “real versions” are also rarely lucky enough to be able to include Sylvester Stallone as a character in their narrative. Director Philippe Falardeau’s Chuck gets to do that, though, and the moment Stallone shows up it’s clear that this isn’t a movie about just any blue-collar boxer trying to make his way in the world, it’s about the blue-collar boxer trying to make his way in the world who let Sylvester Stallone turn his life story into Rocky. This trailer makes it look like Chuck will be more comedic than Rocky—at least based on the shot where Liev Schreiber’s Chuck has to fight a bear and the part where he very half-heartedly punches a mirror—but that could just be a side-effect of the fact that it uses T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” on its soundtrack, which doesn’t really lend itself to emotional drama.
Chuck will be in theaters on May 5.