| Overall Grade: |
B |
|
| Story: |
C+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
B |
|
|
| Direction: |
B |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B |
|
|
Flawed but Still Interesting
by Brett (movies profile)
Jun 4, 2005
17
of
21 people found this review helpful
Charles S. Dutton's "Against the Ropes" tells a story inspired by boxing manager Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan), who made history by being the first female to manage championship boxers in six different weight classes. Although it wasn't a loyal retelling of her life as a manager, it could have been. The events that happen in this film happen in sports nearly every day (granted maybe not to this extreme). Kallen meets her film boxer, Luther Shaw (Omar Epps), by accident as she happens to be in the room while he is "taking care" of Kallen's original boxer, (sold to her for $1 by Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub), the largest boxing promoter in the mid-west, after he gets soundly beaten in a fight) who ends up being a drug addict. The two work their way up the ranks with their trainer Felix Reynolds (Dutton), while both (but particularly Kallen, because of her gender) get increasingly famous. This leads to the rather predictable fallout, as both work their seperate ways to a championship fight. "Ropes", like the recently released "Miracle", shines when it gets to the climatic boxing sequences. The boxing action (filmed at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario) is some of the best action seen so far this year. Acceptable performances are turned in by everyone involved, except for Ryan, who still makes the best out a role that really never would have worked for her. You wont be disappointed with "Against the Ropes", but its nothing original. (3 stars) (Reviewed 2/20 @ AMC Theatres Walden Galleria 12- Cinema 6) |
My Public Profile 
