By: debbie lynn elias
Inspired by the true story of the most successful female manager in boxing history, “Against the Ropes” loosely brings to life the legendary Jackie Kallen. Starring Meg Ryan in the title role, the tale of this gritty, gutsy underdog finally makes it to the big screen this week after sitting on a shelf at Paramount for the past year. (Undoubtedly due to Ryan’s last pitiful performance of “grit” and “guts” in ‘In the Cut.”) Kallen’s is a story not unlike a “Rocky” – downtrodden underdog becomes a champion – but has the added twist of a female breaking into the male dominated sport and the “good ol’ boys club.” Sadly, extreme literary license is taken to the point of the film becoming a saccharine soapbox as opposed to one of substance and credibility given the drama of the real story between Kallen and one of her protégées, middleweight James Toney, and her climb to the top. (Kallen actually brought four men championship titles.)
Kallen, Jewish and from Detroit, grew up in boxing. Her father was a trainer and her uncle “Ray Ray” a so-so boxer in his own right. The sport was in her blood. (Plus she had the added perk of watching scantily clad, hunky, sweaty guys all day. Not too shabby.) She knew boxing was the direction her life would take, she just didn’t know how or to where. What she did know was that it didn’t include being forever deskbound as an assistant to an arrogant sleezoid boxing promoter. Thanks to her smart head and even smarter mouth, Kallen finally makes her move when on a dare, she forks over $1.00 and buys the contract of a home town boxing hero who just got his ass handed to him by an unknown. Determined to prove the guy lost due solely to poor management and training, Kallen pours her heart and soul into the new undertaking. Unfortunately, she quickly realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew when she discovers her client doesn’t lose because of poor management; he loses thanks to his method of better living through chemistry. Crack, coke, speed – you name it – he does it. (Obviously, the man wasn’t even worth a dollar.)
But as we all know, every cloud has a silver lining, and this time is no exception. After witnessing “her boy” getting the **** kicked out him by a street thug over a drug deal gone bad, the light bulb goes on. Kallen has found her diamond in the rough – Lethal Luther Shaw – and soon finds herself poised to take her place at the top of the boxing world when Shaw faces off in a title bout, ironically with the client of the man who put Kallen on her managerial path.
Where Ryan failed to make the cut in the guts and grit department with “In the Cut”, she does a little better here, but still seems to fall just a bit shy of a complete crossover from cutesy femininity to hard line, guts, no pain, no gain, go for the gusto boxing manager. Like Kallen’s protégée, the raw materials are there; they just need proper management to put them all together. Where she does excel is in exuding her smarts, which if combined with a little more oomph in the confidence and strength department, could have proven to be a dynamic one-two combination instead of just some intermittently effective jabs.
But part of Ryan’s shortcomings as Kallen fall on Cheryl Edwards’ script. Too much literary license detracts from the overall effort with a heavy concentration on the “yeah for me – step on you” backstory as opposed to concentrating on Kallen’s inherent ability and effort. And while the conclusion is foregone, there is nevertheless a gaping hole between the underlying story of a self-absorbed Kallen and the resolution of her “issues” that bring her back to the focus of her efforts. Relegating Ryan’s portrayal of Kallen to one of brains and beauty diminishes not only her performance but the story of the real Jackie Kallen. Glaringly absent is also an real storyline or detail of Kallen’s background. We get the basics, but not any real concept of what makes her tick.
Omar Epps steps into the ring as south-paw Lethal Luther and as comes as no surprise, is excellent. I first took notice of him in “Major League II” when he went to bat for Wesley Snipes taking over as Willie Mays Hayes. Cocky, charming and street-wise all at the same time, Epps has carried those qualities through every role, including his latest stint as Dr. Gant on “ER.” Unfortunately, boxing is not one of his strong suits and it shows here. Nevertheless, he embraces the character and brings more of an emotional depth to Luther than Ryan does to Kallen. Charles S. Dutton, who does double duty as director, also appears as trainer Felix Reynolds. Dutton, never a disappointment and whose love of boxing is obviously joyous and devout, is intensely strong, exuding a wisdom and conviction beyond the ages. He is a delight to watch. Seemingly out of place, however, is Tony Shalhoub as promoter Sam Larocca who never quite meets the bar as being the sleezoid that Larocca truly is.
Key to any sports film is editing and Dutton got one of the best with Eric Beason which fails to explain some of the poor work with the fight scenes, leaving Epps’ inabilities as a fighter exposed and uncovered and thus, detracting from believability that he could take a title. And while part of this can be attributed to a boxing choreography that’s lacking, an editor should be able to “clean it up” more than was done here. (Stallone still takes the cake for the choreography in the “Rocky” films. Superb!) Beason, who was responsible for cutting Ryan’s ex, Dennis Quaid in “The Rookie” and Kevin Costner in “For Love of the Game” clearly has an affinity for and extreme ability to edit baseball films. Too bad, boxing isn’t one of his fortes.
Kallen’s story is interesting and I, quite frankly, expected something better than what we have. The raw materials are all here. They just need a little better management and promotion. “Against the Ropes” – a split decision.
Meg Ryan: Jackie Kallen Omar Epps: Lethal Luther Shaw Charles S. Dutton: Felix Reynolds Tony Shalhoub: Sam Larocca
Directed by Charles S. Dutton. Written by Cheryl Edwards. A Paramount Pictures release. Rated PG-13.
