Creed

"I'll just tell him that I love him, and I know he didn't leave me on purpose. And I'm proud to be a Creed." If I could wrap up what I love about this movie in just a few words, it would be radical vulnerability. So much of sports, and fighting sports in particular, revolves around targeted anger. These athletes are taught to build up the anger and lash out with violence, so it's really no surprise that we see them, time and time again, in the middle of these domestic assault cases. And yet Even though it's steeped in the anger and fear of not being able to prove your worth to the world, Creed first centers on a women who adopts the illegitimate son of her late husband. Not just legally, like it's some sort of duty, but emotionally. That's her son. It's about Rocky letting familial love back into his life again, and in doing so, rediscovering what made life worth fighting for. Above all else, it's about Donnie. A kid who wanted nothing more than to live up to his father's name while also refusing to be associated with it. A kid who had to prove to himself what Mary Ann saw the moment she stepped into that cell. Adonis Johnson was worth fighting for.