SITE TOOLS
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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.
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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.
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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
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