Against the Ropes (2004)
"This is my Erin Brockovich.
This is my chance to prove I can act..." - Meg Ryan
to Jackie Kallan
"Erin
Brockovich" meets a "Rocky" sequel - every "Rocky"
sequel.
It's hard to get into "Against the
Ropes." Meg Ryan is doing this accent that is annoying
and obvious and, so, for a long time, we can see her
acting. And the script here is nothing to write home
about either. Some of the dialogue is just awful.
People are always saying things that are cutting or
clever but also as obvious as hell. The characters
here have "zingers" as a new form of language. And
the zingers ain't even all that good. Plus there's
Tony Shaloub playing a bad guy, which nobody wants
to see, and Tim Daly playing a good guy, which makes
the film look like a "Wings" reunion.
The film is based on a real person,
Jackie Kallan, one of the first women boxing managers.
Kallan begins here as a little girl (who doesn't have
an accent anywhere near the one Ryan adopts here as
the adult character) with a father and uncle in the
fight game. Kallan grows up quickly (right after the
introductory sequence in fact) and becomes a secretary
to a boxing promoter. When she finds a young street
fighter who could be a champ, she hocks her gold jewelry,
finds a trainer in retirement willing to get back
in the game, and tries to be a boxing manager herself.
What's truly sad about the film,
and the story, is that there is simply no drama here.
Oh, there's that male vs. female thing but all the
boxing guys in the film, especially Shaloub, play
up the goombah aspect of their characters and become
cardboard stereotypes. We don't take them seriously
as "villains." It seems more like a community theater
production of "The Sopranos" then reality.
Then, to try and eek an iota of
character arc and plot out of the story, scripter
Cheryl Edwards resorts to the old "nice person gets
an ego and loses sight of what's real" plot. It's
dumb and contrived. Then again, Edwards shows little
evidence of being capable of creating anything that
isn't contrived and typical. One wonders if perhaps
she isn't still a high school student.
Charles S. Dutton (TV's "Roc") plays
the trainer and also takes the time to direct here.
While Dutton is no filmmaker, he is a working blue
collar type director and approaches the film with
a very easy straight-forward, workaday manner. We
get the idea we are watching a film by a very competent
man who doesn't have an artistic idea in his head.
It's kinda like if your dad made a movie.
The real Jackie Kallan pops up in
the film playing a reporter and the film is so bad
that when she does, you immediately know that she
is the real Kallan. It's as obvious as Ryan's contrived
accent. The film ends with the cliche of the humbled
Kallan entering a room full of people and after some
uncomfortable silence, one person begins clapping
slowly and the rest of the room slowly joins in until
the place is awash in applause. It's the perfectly
ridiculous and typical ending to a film that is continually
contrived, silly and pointless.
Not a complete waste of time.
But then again certainly not a valuable
use of it either.
Note:
Also with Omar Epps. With cameos
by people that surely have something to do with boxing
or sports reporting including that guy who says, "Let's
get ready to rumble!"
Greenlit after the success of "Erin
Brockovich," the film was slated to begin shooting
in November 2001. Pushed back a few months, filming
eventually began in early 2002. Scheduled for a March
2003 release then shelved for several months. The
film is/was finally dumped out on the unsuspecting
public in February 2004.
At one time, Sandra Bullock was
attached to star.
Kallan manages several boxers including
James Toney, Bronco McKart, and Tommy Hearns.
