Against The Ropes

What's the Plot?

Daughter of a boxing trainer, Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) grew up watching her dad train and her uncle box in a downtown gym. Although her father didn't, her uncle had faith in her, knowing that she would become involved in the sport one day. Now, at the age of 36, Jackie is executive secretary to Irving Abel (Joe Cortese), the director of the Cleveland Coliseum but everyone knows that it's she that makes everything run smoothly. One evening while having drinks with the local TV sportscaster, Gavin Reese (Tim Daly), Jackie ends up in a verbal sparring match with Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub), the Midwest's boxing kingpin. To put her down infront of the crowd, he sells her the contract of one of his fighter's for $1, daring her to prove her statement that she could do a better job than he does. Whilst trying to introduce herself to the fighter, Jackie stumbles upon Luther Shaw (Omar Epps), a drug dealer's heavy who definitely knows how to take care of himself... and business. After persuading Luther to pursue boxing, Jackie enlists the help of Felix (Charles S. Dutton), a veteran trainer, to turn him from a jail-bound punk into a prize-fighter. If they succeed, they will make boxing history, and of course, prove cocky Sam LaRocca wrong if Jackie becomes a successful female manager.

The Review

Movies based on real life people's struggles are things that, not unlike injured lions, are often approached with extreme caution. For every Erin Brockovich there's a slew of Men Of Honour and Remember The Titans to strike fear into the hearts of cinema-goer's everywhere. Against The Ropes falls somewhere between the two extremes. Even though it comes across as a Jerry Maguire meets Rocky, it still can't shake it's "afternoon made-for-TV movie" feel. It opens with a young Jackie being told off by her father for "interfering" with his training of the boxers but you just know by her determined face that it will not be the end of that journey for the central character.

Oh yes, the cliché coach has well-and-truly arrived with Meg Ryan's "feel-good" flick! She becomes famous, and just as Cruise's Jerry Maguire did, she gets caught up in the camera's flashes and the fame, leaving behind the people that helped her there and the people that matter the most. Like Melanie Griffith's Working Girl, Ryan has a "down-to-earth" friend that attempts to keep her "ladder-climbing" mate grounded; the fight sequences get a music-heavy montage as Luther makes his mark in the ring heading towards a Rocky finale: every "triumph of the human spirit" box is ticked. Despite the obvious, the film still manages to shine in certain aspects.

When Ryan stands up to Shalhoub's obnoxious manager in the club surrounded by his lackeys, you still can't help smiling at her sassiness, willing her on to put him in his place, which you full-well know will happen before the end credits roll. Charles S. Dutton, who not only appears infront of the camera, but also sat in the Director's chair, never strays from the
straight, safe and narrow with pace, characterisation or plot-lines, and therein lies the problem. It never surprises or makes you feel that the journey that you've taken with it wasn't really worth the hassle.

STEVE'S SCORES