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The other worthwhile moments in the movie belong to Stallone. Having abdicated the fighter's role for once, he tries to show what else he can do as an actor. As it turns out, he can be quite funny. There are some hilarious bits in which he fends off real and imagined enemies on New York's mean streets; his performance takes on a violent comic vitality that only rarely spreads to his direction and writing. Like the rest of the film, the star is at his worst when he lays on calculated doses of sentiment and sensitivity; at such times, Stallone seems more in touch with imagined demands of the box office than his own instincts. True, his sloppy side eventually buries the movie, but deep within Paradise Alley you can hear an original comic voice struggling to burst out. — Frank Rich