Against the Ropes (2004)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Charles S. Dutton

Writers (WGA):

Jackie Kallen (life)
Cheryl Edwards (written by)

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

She gave the boxing world the one-two punch they never saw coming.

Plot:

A fictional story inspired by North America's most famous female boxing promoter, Jackie Kallen. Her struggle to survive and succeed in a male dominated sport.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Boxing Manager | Male Female Relationship | Jumprope | Drugs

Cast

Meg Ryan	...	Jackie Kallen
Omar Epps	...	Luther Shaw
Charles S. Dutton	...	Felix Reynolds
Tony Shalhoub	...	Sam LaRocca
Tim Daly	...	Gavin Reese
Joseph Cortese	...	Irving Abel (as Joe Cortese)
Kerry Washington	...	Renee
Sean Bell	...	Ray Kallen
Dean McDermott	...	Pete Kallen
Skye McCole Bartusiak	...	Little Jackie
Juan Carlos Hernández	...	Pedro Hernandez (as Juan Hernandez)
Holt McCallany	...	Doug Doherty
Tory Kittles	...	Devon Green
Gene Mack	...	Kevin Keyes
Beau Starr	...	Corcoran

Also Known As:

Die Promoterin (Germany)
The Jackie Kallen Story (USA) (working title)
The Promoter (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude language, violence, brief sensuality and some drug material.

Runtime:

USA:111 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39517) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Company:

Cort/Madden Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Luther is having dinner with Jackie, he picks up his napkin twice.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fear of Clowns (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hale Se Le Di Khanna

Omar Epps looks like a woman on the box cover

A movie with its moments, most of the moments being bad, bad, bad. The Studio shelved this un-winner for a few years for good reasons, they did not know if an audience for this movie existed. At times, the direction of the film created some nice visuals but nothing else. A lot of the cutting between scenes jumped without any story between more scene to another. Kind of jumpy and fast, the movie tries to find its story somewhere at the half way point, and doesn't mind it. Meg Ryan once again proves herself by doing another different film that leaves the audience still guessing. Giving up her innocent / beauty roles for the more serious, she tries to jump back into comedy to try her beauty and charm again. The only problem is that the audience gave up going to see her role in those movies to see her as a serious actress. Much like Omar Epps looking like a woman on the poster and cover of the movie box, this movie makes you turn your head to one side like a confused dog.