I'm not quite sure what kind of movie “Against The Ropes” is trying to be. But rest assured, it fails miserably at being whatever type that is.

It's actually a fun little mystery to attempt to solve - why does this entire production feel so annoying, contrived and stupid? Like all good detectives, let's start with the evidence: You have a woman, Jackie (Meg Ryan), who is the rough and gruff assistant to a successful boxing promoter. She sees the world for what it is, not through eyes filled with stars but through eyes that have given up hoping for more. She looks like a beautiful woman, but she is a depressed person, doing all the work but getting none of the credit, or respect, from her male bosses.

That all changes when she goes into business for herself, trying her hand at managing a boxer on her own (Omar Epps).

Now at this point, I must ask you loyal reader: Don't you know where this is heading? Think she becomes a success? Think her boxer wins fights? Think she gets to show the guys who disrespected her a thing or two about being in the business?

So, right off the bat, “Against The Ropes,” loses points for being predictable - painfully predictable.

Still, this could have been an interesting movie about the business, the sport of boxing, or about the relationship between manager and boxer as they go from nobodies to somebodies.

Yet it fails in all regards because it is a movie of only black and white, of gear one and gear two. It’s a story of constant, nauseous extremes.

Rather than learning about the business, we see Jackie struggling in one moment and then on top of the world in the next, unable to land a fight but then minutes later being interviewed by HBO. Rather than appreciating the sport, we go from Epps having trouble in the practice ring to him knocking out opponents and winning fights left and right. And rather than enjoying the complex, changing relationship between Jackie and her boxer, we go from them being perfect for each other to sudden, explosive arguments and egos, making even the characters unbelievable.

“Against The Rope” wants to be everything, and as a result it succeeds at nothing. The final shot of the film - a slow-motion picture of manager and boxer celebrating, is proof enough of this. I didn't care about either of them, what they had accomplished, or the road they had just journeyed.

Director Charles Dutton, who also stars in the film, wants us to see a story of female empowerment, friendship, triumph over adversity and exciting boxing. What we're left with is a movie of extreme melodrama, too far fetched to ever take seriously.

by: Steven Snyder steven@zertinet.com, Published 2004-01-01