Against the Ropes

Cast: Meg Ryan, Omar Epps, Tony Shahloub, Tim Daly, Joseph Cortese, and Charles S. Dutton
Director: Charles S. Dutton
Writer: Cheryl Edwards
Genre: Drama
Rated: M medium level violence
Running Time: 111 Minutes

The Best Man For The Job May Be A Woman

Synopsis:
'Against The Ropes' is inspired by the true story of Jackie Kallen, the most successful female manager in boxing history. Meg Ryan portrays Jackie Kallen, a smart, gutsy woman who wants to break out of a dead-end job, as she knows she was meant for more. She gets her chance when she sees Luther Shaw (Omar Epps) in a brawl and knows he's a champion in the raw. Determined to follow her heart, she becomes Luther's boxing manager and convinces him that he can fight his way out of a thug life. Together with veteran trainer Felix Reynolds (Charles S. Dutton), Jackie and Luther discover they need each other to realize their dreams and take the boxing world by storm.

My Verdict:
'Against The Ropes' is a chick-flick boxing movie that never rests completely being one or the other. Jackie Kallen is an intelligent woman who, as the daughter of a trainer, grew up around boxing rings and really does love the sport. The movie is inspired by her story although some of the details have been altered. Jackie is a secretary to Irving Abel (Joseph Cortese), your typical male chauvinist, who is the director of the Cleveland Colisseum, a major boxing venue. It is here that she learns about the administration aspects of boxing, as she really is running the place. She inadvertently becomes the manager of a boxer, Devon, by being a verbal upstart to promoter Sam LaRocca (Tony Shahloub) and goes to visit Devon to tell him the good news. He has since become a drug user and she witnesses a physical beating by a drug-dealers enforcer, Luther Shaw (Omar Epps), who she sees as having potential as a professional boxer. She then pursues him and eventually convinces him that he has the gift of a talented boxer and that she will manage him to glory.

There are a few token boxing matches in 'Against The Ropes' before a climatic world title fight, so it is not all boxing and fighting but more about the relationship between Jackie and Luther, and their trainer Felix Reynolds. She is after all, white, 36 and a great looking woman who is trying to manage a young black fighter from the wrong side of the tracks. She is in male dominated territory and has to fight to get what she wants - mostly by verbal tongue-lashings and occasionally using feminine wiles.

'Against The Ropes' is a very disappointing movie. There is heaps of potential in the story that is never realised because of a very lack-lustre performance by Meg Ryan. She never seems convincing, playing the same emotions over and over and never persuading us to believe that she has any chemistry at all with co-star Omar Epps. Sure, she gets to parade around in some great costumes, which may be classified as one of the highlights, but as a character who must surely be a fascinating woman, she never packs a badly needed punch.

The real Jackie Kallen has a cameo role as a news reporter during a press conference in Tampa, Florida.

Rating : C-

Christina Bruce