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Movies / On DVD / Against the Ropes
Against the Ropes

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Against the Ropes (2003)

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Reviews Counted:128

Fresh:16

Rotten:112

Average Rating:4.2/10

Consensus: A bland, dumbed-down package of sports cliches.

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Meg Ryan stars in this fictionalized account of real-life boxing manager Jackie Kallen, the first female to ever make a name for herself in the sport. As the film begins she's just an assistant to... Meg Ryan stars in this fictionalized account of real-life boxing manager Jackie Kallen, the first female to ever make a name for herself in the sport. As the film begins she's just an assistant to the owner of a sleazy sporting arena, but her antagonism toward a mafia-affiliated boxing bigwig (Tony Shalhoub) and her hunch about the innate boxing talent of a young street thug named Luther (Omar Epps) lead her to take up managing. She recruits a retired trainer (Charles S. Dutton, who also directed) to mold Luther into a champ, and starts pushing and climbing through the sport's rampant sexism. The script by Cheryl Edwards is packed with platitudes and great throwaway lines, and to its credit the film doesn't shy away from showing Kallen's less flattering angles. Ryan looks and sounds great, sporting a fun Midwestern accent and a series of sexy outfits as she sashays through the cigar smoke and testosterone, tough-talking her way to victory in argument after argument. Though set in the present, AGAINST THE ROPES has a grungy 1970s feel to it, recalling ROCKY, THE CHAMP, THE MAIN EVENT and other films of the era. The real-life Kallen served as an associate producer. [More]

Starring: Meg Ryan, Omar Epps, Tony Shalhoub, Tim Daly

Starring: Meg Ryan, Omar Epps, Tony Shalhoub, Tim Daly, Kerry Washington, Joe Cortese, Charles S. Dutton

Director: Charles S. Dutton

Director: Charles S. Dutton
Screenwriter: Cheryl Edwards
Producer: Robert W. Cort, David Madden
Composer: Michael Kamen
Studio: Paramount Pictures

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Reviews for Against the Ropes

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

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Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What could have been a gripping tale becomes hammy and overdone.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/14/04
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Meg Ryan is busily torpedoing any respect she might have accrued

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
05/13/04
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This movie lacks any complexity. Dutton opts instead to embellish the story with boxing clichés.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/11/04
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
03/27/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Has Erin Brockovich written all over it, mostly due to Meg Ryan's blowsy performance.... Alas, the comparison doesn't work in this film's favour.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
02/12/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

An inoffensively average, formulaic entertainment with a marketing-problematic point of view.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
12/28/08
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

It's hard to expect anyone to infuse much passion into a "by-the-numbers" boxing movie which telegraphs every punch.

Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics | comment Comment
04/25/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Princeton Town Topics

Against the Ropes may not deliver a knock-out, but it does land some pretty good blows.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/01/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
03/15/06
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies

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Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
04/02/05
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons

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Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment Comment
10/07/04
Tony Medley
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (Australia) | comment Comment
08/16/04
Sunday Times (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's one thing to make a predictable Hollywood movie. It's another thing to make a predictable Hollywood movie based on a fascinating life.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
06/04/04
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

Ryan's Kallen is painfully two-dimensional.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
04/09/04
Edith Alderette
Edith Alderette
San Francisco Examiner

Mediocre, cliché-ridden but passable entertainment that completely falls apart in the third act.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
04/07/04
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
IGN Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
04/03/04
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Complicated by the ways that race, masculinity, and media shape expectations and possibilities in the boxing world.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
03/23/04
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
 
 
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