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Film & Video

Against the Ropes, 2004, 100 minutes, Rated PG-13 
By Ramona Prioleau

Will the real Jackie Kallen please stand up? Because Meg ain't it.

So bent on backing a project that's easily marketed to the masses, the producers of Against the Ropes missed the mark and the opportunity to create an interesting character study of a woman who survived not only against the ropes, but also against all odds in a sport that's a bastion of pugilistic sexism.

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Inspired by real life promoter Jackie Kallen, Ropes charts the fictional Kallen's abrupt entry into the world of boxing management. On a lark, Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan), an executive assistant to a Cleveland event promoter, accepts a challenge to train a prize fighter. In the midst of meeting with the prize fighter-cum-crackhead, Kallen encounters a tough as nails streetfighter that she guides from drug enforcer to middle weight champion. Despite a premise that encourages cheers, Ropes tired dialogue and lackluster plot shamefully muddles the essence of a woman whose real life struggle is much more worthy of applause.

Ropes only scratches the surface of what enables one to succeed in a game where obstacles to achievement are based simply on gender. Instead of spending time delving into the life experiences that made Kallen a force to be reckoned with, the film rushes to establish the fictional Kallen as an ultra-sexy underdog in an industry that tends to delegate those of the softer sex to positions as bikini-clad placard carriers. Choosing not to focus on the more logical journey traveled by the real life Kallen from journalist and PR rep to a boxing manager who also happens to be a mommy, the film opts for a more comical and fantastic leap from executive assistant to promoter. In doing so, it marginalizes the struggle that the mother of all promoters endured in an arena crowded with men who wrote her off as a fluke.

Ryan's performance is mediocre at best and her portrayal of Kallen in a gravelly-voiced monotone only serves to hamper the production. Most troubling is the mixed message conveyed by presenting the trailblazing Kallen with over-the-top sex appeal. Adorning Ryan's Kallen in revealing attire detracts from the characterization of a woman who fought the good fight and achieved in spite of the roadblocks placed before her.

Nevertheless, this film that slaps together a weak character study with a fist fight feature is saved from being an utter waste because of strong performances from Tony Shalhoub, Omar Epps and Charles Dutton. Dutton, who also directs, capably handles his first feature even though the film lacks any of the style Dutton displayed in his projects directed for television. M

February 2004