Against the Ropes
- Release Date
- February 20, 2004
- Director
- Charles S. Dutton
- Cast
- Meg Ryan , Omar Epps , Charles S. Dutton , Tony Shalhoub , Tim Daly , Joseph Cortese
- Runtime
- 111
- Main Genre
- Biography
- Writers
- Jackie Kallen , Cheryl Edwards
- Tagline
- She gave the boxing world the one-two punch they never saw coming.
- Website
- http://www.againsttheropes.com
Summary
Jackie Kallen defied the odds when she stormed into the male-dominated world of boxing and became the most successful female manager in the history of the sport. Now, three-time Golden Globe nominee Meg Ryan brings Kallen to life in “Against the Ropes,? a fictionalized drama inspired by this gutsy woman who dared to play the fight game and win. Also starring Omar Epps as Luther Shaw, Kallen’s champion-in-the-making, and featuring Tony Shalhoub as Midwest boxing kingpin Sam LaRocca, Tim Daly as TV sports reporter Gaven Ross, Charles S. Dutton as veteran trainer Felix Reynolds, Joe Cortese as Irving Abel, Kallen’s boss and Kerry Washington as Kallen’s best friend and co-worker at the Cleveland Coliseum, this exciting film truly packs a punch. The daughter of a trainer, Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) grew up skipping rope in a downtown Detroit gym alongside her uncle, a fighter himself. She watched in wonder as young men struggled to become champions, and hoped that one day she would be involved in the sport that was in her blood. Now, at 36, Jackie’s ready to carry on the family tradition. She’s tired of playing executive secretary to Irving Abel (Joe Cortese), director of the Cleveland Coliseum, when both of them know she’s the one really running the place. Trying to make her mark in the boxing world, Jackie spends a lot of her free time working the room at D’Agostino’s, a pugs and thugs hangout known for its stiff drinks and bloody steaks. After drinks with Cleveland’s local hotshot TV sportscaster, Gavin Reese (Tim Daly), Jackie ends up in a verbal sparring match with the Midwest’s boxing kingpin, Sam LaRocca (Tony Shalhoub). Just to belittle her, he sells her the contract of one of his fighters for a dollar?/4and that’s just about what Devon Greene (Tory Kittles) is worth. It turns out Devon’s more interested in smoking crack than boxing. But Jackie’s dollar ends up being well spent anyway. When she goes to Devon’s apartment to introduce herself as his new manager, she arrives just as his drug dealer’s enforcer, Luther Shaw (Omar Epps), is beating him up. Instantly, she recognizes that it is Luther, not Devon, who has the potential to be her champion. Bailing Luther out of jail, Jackie convinces him to pursue boxing and to let her be his manager. Then, with the help of Felix Reynolds (Charles S. Dutton), a veteran trainer whom she coaxes out of retirement, Jackie turns Luther from a jail-bound punk into a streamlined prizefighter?/4and at the same time, turns herself into one of the most successful female managers in boxing history.
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