Mile-a-minute spieler Frank Stallone loves to reminisce, so much so that it’s a wonder that director/official Stallone videographer Derek Wayne Johnson’s (40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic) talking-heads doc clocks in at a scant 74 minutes. Frank’s greatest claim to fame is his ability to stand in brother Sylvester’s shadow without freezing his ass off. “In his world and his talent,” says the thick-spoken Sly, “he’s every bit as good as I am at what I try to do.” (Stock footage and family photographs notwithstanding, you don’t see the brothers together in the same frame until the closing credits.) One testimonial after another praises Frank as a musical prodigy, a natural born entertainer. We exit feeling sorry for the guy. Based on the assumptions of versatility, the ballyhoo was more than half correct: Stallone’s not only a singer, but given the right role (Barfly, Tombstone), he can rise to the occasion as an actor. (Then there’s Terror in Beverly Hills, a laughably incoherent action-thriller that isn’t so bad... it’s worse!.) And when it comes to pugilism, the question remains: why pursue a career in boxing when one is trying one’s best to step out from behind one’s brother’s image? There is so much time devoted to Frank asking “Why not me?” that in the end, this very entertaining vanity production seems less of a biodoc and more like a demo reel. (2021) — Scott Marks
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