Against the Ropes (2004) Reviews

• Agreeable comedy-drama about boxing world with a likable Meg Ryan as an obstinate promoter

  ma-cortes2007-10-04

  The movie focuses to Jackie Kallen(Meg Ryan), a Jewish girl from Detroit, a secretary plenty of wide dreams. After a stake with a famous commissioner(Tony Shalhoub)she becomes a boxing promoter of a young boxer(Omar Epps).Then she hires a retired coach(Charles S. Dutton) for training the inexperienced boxer. Although is a fictional story is based on true events referred by United States's most noted boxing manager. In addition, are narrated her relationship with the tough boxer, her fight to survive into boxing world, a sport strongly dominated by male sex. It's developed with humor, love and a little bit of drama. The casting is frankly excellent, a sympathetic though selfish Meg Ryan, a two-fisted but sensible Omar Epps, today well known as the doctor in ¨House¨, such as Tony Shaloub by ¨Monk¨series; furthermore Jose Cortese and Tim Daly(son of James Daly and brother of Tyne Daly) as a sports reporter. The motion picture packs an enjoyable cinematography by Jack N. Greene( Clint Eastwood's usual cameraman) and catching soundtrack by Michael Kamen(Weapon Lethal, Die hard). The movie is professionally directed by usually actor Charles S Dutton in his first movie, he has followed directing television movies. Rating : Acceptable and entertaining . The film will like to Meg Ryan fans and boxing buffs but displays nice combats.

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• Only the audience is against the ropes

  Buddy-512004-11-07

  Though ostensibly based on a true story, 'Against the Ropes' is pure movie hokum from start to finish. Jackie Kallen made a name for herself as one of the few successful female managers in the history of professional boxing. In the movie's prologue, we meet Jackie as a young girl so obsessed with the sport that she spends her off hours at the gym helping her dad train her uncle, a fighter who died very early in his career. Years later, Jackie, on a dare, agrees to manage her own player - if only she can find a talent who will be willing to put his life and his career in the hands of an untried but determined woman. She alights on Luther Shaw, a drug-dealer-with-a-heart-of-gold whom she picks up in the nearby projects. Luther is, for the most part, a fictional character, a composite, we're told, of several of the fighters Kallen led to victory in the ring. Regardless of how much of this is fiction or nonfiction, 'Against the Ropes' fails to generate any heat either as a character study or as a human drama. We're supposed to find all this interesting simply because Kallen is an attractive woman trying to prove herself in a man's world. Yet, the story is hackneyed, the dialogue corny, the characters and their conflicts trite and underdeveloped. The Cheryl Edwards screenplay is so sketchy and poorly articulated that we often don't understand why characters are behaving the way they are, particularly when it comes to the rough-and-tumble relationship between Jackie and Luther. One moment they are getting along swimmingly, and the next Jackie is strutting around blowing her own horn while Luther sits pouting in the corner. Whole episodes, which could have gone a long way towards explaining the characters' motivations, seem to have been dropped from the finished product at the last minute. Kallen is obviously a change-of-pace role for Meg Ryan who generally plays the innocent ingénue lead in romantic comedies. Yet, despite the fact that she is a trifle more serious here and even gets to work with an accent (the mark of any 'serious' performer looking to buck up her credentials), the movie itself is so lacking in tension and grit and so determinedly upbeat and optimistic that it really doesn't give the actress a whole lot of opportunity to truly stretch those acting muscles. In fact, in the final scene, the film turns into little more than a vanity production for the waning star. Omar Epps fares a bit better, turning in a performance of strength and dignity, though the script lets him down by failing to develop his character to any appreciable extent. The one fight scene is only moderately well executed and comes way too late in the film for anyone interested in the sport to still be hanging around ringside at that point. In fact, no one comes even close to scoring a knockout blow in 'Against the Ropes' - not Ryan, not Epps and certainly not the audience. 'Against the Ropes' is a sucker punch all the way.

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• Against the Ropes...A movie to remember

  Mbj2much4ya2004-02-24

  I had the pleasure of going to the premiere for Against the Ropes in LA on February 11, 2004. I thought the movie was excellant. I am Charles Dutton's neice, and a very big fan of Omar Epps. The movie was very well written, and directed, and the cast did a fantastic job. Meg Ryan definately played her part, and made it be known that there is no such thing as "a man's sport". I give the movie, it's writers, directors, and it's cast 2 thumbs up. This will definately be a movie that I will purchase on DVD when it comes out.

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• An Erin Brockovich Boxing Movie

  christian1232004-11-20

  Meg Ryan plays a Jewish woman from Detroit who strives to become a successful boxing manager despite facing many obstacles, including an unscrupulous boxing promoter, played by Tony Shalhoub. Against the Ropes looks at the relationship between Kallen and her first professional boxer, played by Omar Epps. Against the Ropes is your typical Lifetime movie of the week feature that somehow made it to theaters. It had nice intentions but the film is not very good or strong. The story is very uninspired and it reminded me of Erin Brockovich. Against the Ropes tried too hard to be like Erin Brockovich and other boxing films without really being its own film. Also, most of the film is pretty dull and there are no real good performances. Meg Ryan is okay as Jackie Kallen. She was a little weak in the dramatic scenes and sometimes her emotions felt really fake. Her outfits were really trashy and this took away from her already less than stellar performance. Meg Ryan is paired up with Omar Epps and he gives a decent performance. However, his chemistry with Meg is really weak. This hurts the film a lot since the whole movie was basically their relationship. Tony Shalhoub gives an okay performance but there really wasn't a lot for his character to do. Charles S. Dutton gives an okay performance as Felix. Again, there really wasn't much for his character to do. Dutton also directs the film and he does an okay job. He could have developed the characters a little more and he could have done a better job at capturing the relationship between Jackie and Luther. The film is very predictable and very simple. The boxing scenes are good but they pale in comparison to other boxing films like Rocky. In the end, this really is a weak film that's not worth watching. Rating 4/10

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• Um......

  mlionfire2006-03-09

  I sat through all of this... and I have to say that it is another colossal and predictable waste of celluloid... Mz. Ryan is terribly miscast and nowhere near tough enough for this type of role... and that lace-up leather number she has on really accentuates the worst of her physical stature... I wish I could say something good about this movie... Meg Ryan has given us some pretty good movies in the past, but I can't seem to find any redeeming qualities... The whole thing needs a remake, with a different cast, as I believe that Jackie Kallen's story is valid to boxing history and should be told... I thought that Tony Shalhoub, the actor who is Jackie's rival (also plays Monk on TV)has turned in a sight better performances than this before... sorry, but this is one dog of a movie you should avoid...

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