Hey folks, Harry here... This is an EXTREMELY EARLY test screening review of Charles Dutton's directorial debut... AGAINST THE ROPES. The review by Enigma Boy is highly spoilerish with his major criticisms falling upon pacing issues and some of the cliches of the Boxing story genre being played out... well like the cliches in a Boxing film often are handled. He feels the acting is exceptional, so there's a chance with some attention to the pacing, final music and what not, that Dutton could pull this off... Personally, I'll root for him! Here's Enigma Boy... BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!
Howdy all!
It's Enigma Boy again, and after another set of sneaky, stealthy maneuvers, I found my way into another protected test screening without a pass. This time, AGAINST THE ROPES, Charles S. Dutton's feature directorial debut. Inspired by the life of Jackie Kallen, the most famous female boxing promoter, this movie follows her rise to stardom through her relationship with hotheaded boxer Luther Shaw, aka "Lethal Luther." Played respectively by Meg Ryan and Omar Epps, these characters go through the motion of hundreds upon hundreds of sports movies, all doing the same...damn...thing.
Oh yeah, SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!
Not like anything I'd say about the plot would surprise. This one is by-the-numbers like you wouldn't believe. True, this does introduce the struggle of women in a male-dominated sport into the equation, but how many times can they make the same...damn...movie? In this case, it's the "true spirit and hard work conquers all" mentality, which I'm not sure makes it any better or worse. This is a skillfully made film, well-acted, but suffers from having nothing original to say or do. Now, I appreciate a good genre film quite a lot (I'm a sucker for romances), but I'd just like to see one original spin on this idea. This is inspired by a true story, but that's no excuse. This is fictionalized. Why couldn't they have fictionalized some good dialogue? This movie is filled with poor excuses for character exchanges.
(Tim Daly looks at Meg's sexy dress)
Tim: I like your dress.
Meg: It shrank at the cleaners.
Tim: I'll write them a thank-you note.
Or such inspirational speeches as:
"You can't even see the glass ceiling. Get in the elevator. Push some buttons. Start going up."
That's coming from someone who is such an African-American character stereotype that she is only needed to say stuff like, "You called for blackup!"
However, I don't want to sound all that negative. This is a middle-of-the-road movie in every sense. It has some high points, including a nice little intro showing Jackie as a precocious little girl watching her uncle in the boxing ring. Don't worry, there are things to like about this movie, but to give a rating (which I really don't like doing) this would rank as a "C." It has its humor and the boxing matches gradually gain energy. It's just not enough to save this movie, however.
I checked it out on IMDB, and it doesn't even have a release date for the U.S., so it's probably a long way off before this is released. I'll be fair and keep this in mind.
The plot: Jackie is a down-on-her-luck executive assistant to an arena manager. She witnesses a fight that is won almost immediately by a firey Puerto Rican (if the movie makes a point of his ethnicity, so will I). The loser is chewed out by his cocky-and-evil-as-fuck manager (easily Tony Shalhoub's worst performance ever), much to the chagrin of Jackie. At a post-fight party, she confronts him, blaming the boxer's poor performance on Shalhoub's abusive tactics, to which Shalhoub challenges her to do a better job with the boxer, selling her the contract for $1. Shades of TRADING PLACES came to mind.
In a not-so-interesting twist, Jackie and her best friend/colleague go to the loser's slum apartment and find him smoking crack. After the stoned boxer threatening them as though they were there for a drug trade, Luther Shaw busts open the door (I'm not sure of his relation to this character) and in a display of boxing skills mixed with street brawling tactics, he takes out the boxer and his cohort. Jackie has seen something amazing in this man, even if he's a punk.
For a bit of time, there's the black/white separation, but she convinces him to train as a middle-weight boxer with the help of a washed-up trainer (Charles S. Dutton giving himself the best role). Luther begins to become a true fighter, gets damn good, they rise to fame, blah blah blah. Here's where the worst part of the movie comes in, and where I started squirming the most. It's not a new idea, just a bad one: Jackie lets fame get to her head and she loses focus. Upon breaking a deal with Tim Daly's sports anchor and psuedo-love interest in favor of the evil of HBO (FIGHT CLUB's Holt McCallany in a juicy executive role). Blah blah, you know the rest.
I say "blah blah" not to be lazy, but come on, you know EXACTLY what's going to happen.
The fights are filmed in a very bizarre style, either shaking needlessly, or from a distant spectactor view. This is a pain in the ass at first, but fight by fight the camera moves closer and closer, and Dutton seems more comfortable to throw us into the action and also be able to see what the hell is going on. What these sequences lack in editing, they more than make up for with very effective sound editing. The punches hit HARD, shocking me on more than a few occasions.
I was ready to completely tune out this movie, but then the final bout happened. I would go so far as to call this sequence glorious. It's bizarre that I'm saying this after taking potshots at this movie, but then highly praising a singular sequence. The weird thing is, as much as I was bored by much of the proceedings, the final match struck a few emotional pangs. I started watching closer, and realized I really did care about Luther. If they avoid a great deal of overemotional music, this sequence could stay being great in the end product. This is where they throw all the punches! (heheheheheh.........................shut up...)
Overall, my interest in the ending is achieved through great pacing. Also, credit must be given to the actors.
The acting, as aforementioned, is top-notch, which is why I'm quick to dislike the film even more, because there's nothing worse than wasted talent. Meg Ryan continues to stretch her acting abilities, taking on a nifty Ohio accent and allowing herself room to step away from the goofy cute girl we all know. Also, this movie proved to me that Meg has a brutally sexy and deep voice, as long as she stays with it and avoids the higher registers. Omar Epps has always been high on my list when it comes to that "young generation" of actors, and he goes through his arc with skill. Together, they kick some major ass. I have no problem with the acting. Good show. Find a better script.
Something that must be mentioned, though, is that this movie would never have been made if it weren't for ERIN BROCKOVICH. The "woman is just as powerful as a man" concept is at full blast, hitting all the same notes. In the same vein, the costume department goes great lengths to make Meg look sexy. However, this backfires, making her look many times like sheer trash, clothed in animal prints and baby tees that just don't seem to fit her character. More than any other movie I can think of, my constant cry from the crowd was, "What the FUCK is she wearing?!" This happened out loud probably about seven times, then I just got sick of vocalizing it.
Overall, a noble effort. I wish the cast & crew better times. You've got a "C" from me, and you have time to fix some of the pacing in the middle. Good luck.
Till next time,
Enigma Boy
By the way, can the gimmick of the "SLOW CLAP" finally be put to death? It's starting to trigger some homicidal urges as of recent.
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