Too many fans seem to be blown away

recommended

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

This was a great movie!! Omar Epps and Meg Ryan were great in this movie! My review is not going to be detailed as there are so many others that are... Mine is just going to say Great Movie!!! I bought this DVD and saw this at the Theater!! I was entertained and enjoyed the movie immensely!! I still watch it on DVD every year and every one that watches it with me and has not seen it enjoys it as well!!! I don't understand the negativity regarding this film and or Meg Ryans' role in it! She was a tough fight promoter (Female)... she played the role well and was Hot doing it!! Omar Epps was great for the part!!! Based on a true story !!! Was happy to see it done well!!

Said to be based on a true story, 'Against the Ropes' is not as effective as other movies of this genre. The story does not grip and even as a character study it fails. The screenplay is quite poor (and predictable), the characters are half-baked, the dialogues are dull and it has nothing new to offer. Cheryl Edwards expects to understand what's going on but we are always questioning what the motivation of the characters were.Meg Ryan looks very hot and she does the best she could with an ill-written character. Omar Epps is okay (he two suffers from a badly written role). The relationship between the two characters is one of the most important elements of the plot (or should have been). Yet, this is hardly developed. One moment we see Epps character hugging Ryan and the next we see him call her a bitch and wanting to quit. It would have been a far better movie had this point been improved.The plot is obviously very predictable and we know how it will end. There are so many plot holes and there is just too much missing from this film. Maybe there was pressure to make this film within the time limit and the director decided to leave out some parts, probably substantial parts. On a positive note, the last boxing scene was well shot.'Against the Ropes' felt very incomplete and it's a waste for the cast and crew who are otherwise known for their good work. For some reason I tried to enjoy the film...but did not succeed. It isn't the worst movie around and I think it's okay for a one-time watch.

Meg Ryan is a bona fide movie star and a damn good actress and she would have to be to make a boxing film full of clichés watchable but she does that here. I'm not exactly recommending this for others but without Ryan in the starring role would anyone have even the most remote idea of viewing this? Story is (very loosely) based on the first lady of boxing Jackie Kallen (Ryan) who was brought up around the sport by her father and has always dreamed of managing and steering a fighter to the championship.*****SPOILER ALERT***** One day (by accident) she notices a young man named Luther Shaw (Omar Epps) who beats up two drug thugs without help and Jackie thinks she has a winner on her hands but it takes some doing to convince him to give boxing a go. Jackie asks the help from long time trainer Felix Reynolds (Charles S. Dutton) who guides Luther into the pro ranks and teaches him the finer points of the fight game but when Luther starts winning his bouts in spectacular fashion Jackie starts getting as much attention (or more) as her fighter. The boxing scene in the Midwest is controlled by Cleveland promoter Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub) who tries everything he can to stop her but since he owns the Middleweight Champion of the World a big fight between the champ and Luther is inevitable. Because she's an attractive woman Jackie becomes a mini-celebrity and starts spending too much time away from the gym and Luther himself who eventually starts to resent her.This is directed by Dutton himself who has dabbled in directing before but this is (to date) his biggest project and while I sure won't mistake his talent for Spielberg's I think he still shows that he can handle smaller productions. Besides the obvious clichés that seem to haunt a lot of boxing flicks I think what goes wrong here is that they didn't stay true to the source of the material because the real Kallen has had a pretty interesting life. Kallen help guide the career of James "Lights Out" Toney (who is what Epps's character is loosely based on) but their relationship ended very badly and I would have enjoyed seeing that portrayed on screen. Kallen also has twice beaten breast cancer so this proves she's a tough person to dissuade but the film instead wanted to give a more commercial appeal to audiences by making the script concentrate on how she allowed her celebrity status to get the better of her. Some have said that Ryan isn't exactly the right actress to play such a tough talking person but I found her performance pretty good and I've always considered her to be a pretty stubborn person herself so I thought the choice of casting her to be a good one. Besides the angle of a woman in the fight game this film is just too predictable and clichéd to recommend but I do give Ryan credit for lending her talent to this attempt and I do think that if anyone is interested in viewing this it's because of her undeniable appeal.

It would seem if this story was based on a real lady, then it would have been more interesting and not have everything fall step by step. Jackie loves boxing, works as a secretary at a boxing venue, gets a chance to manage on a bet, finds a young fighter who has potential, becomes successful, gets an ego, falls from grace, but wins the last fight in a miraculous manner. Here, the part I hated the most was Jackie determines that Luther is championship material after he beats up two crackheads. I didn't know finding a champion boxer was so easy.Ryan over acts and uses this bad accent like she's talking through her nose. I also didn't think the boxing fights were shot too well. All of the characters are cardboard cut outs, especially the rival promoter. And the standing ovation at the end for Jackie was so over-the-top. Could it get any more sappy? FINAL VERDICT: Follows a step by step story line for movies like this. There's no emotional hook and it's stereo typical as stereo typical gets.