Against the Ropes

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Against the Ropes meanders until it gets to the final third of its running time, and then it catches fire.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It succeeds in many of the ways a sports movie should, and, by employing a slightly different viewpoint for most of the production, manages a sense of freshness.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Some of the performances show flashes of idiosyncrasy and flair that are nearly snuffed out by the pedestrian script.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Despite its problems, the picture still satisfies -- more than a lot of allegedly worthy "A list" movies do. In a movie world where heavyweight often means top-heavy, Against the Ropes shows some pretty fleet footwork.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

There's not a moment in Against the Ropes where you forget this is perky Meg Ryan up onscreen, talking trashy and acting tough.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie is only sporadically interesting.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

As a boxing movie, Against the Ropes is perfunctory, with a well-muscled Omar Epps diligently enduring predictable montages showing his rise to fame as Jackie's first protégé. As a biopic, it's likewise uninspired stuff.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Mark Peranson

Wobbles like a punch-drunk fighter. It never finds its legs, but allows Ryan -- whose wardrobe looks like Erin Brockovich crossed with Barbarella -- the space to do what she does best: turn on the charm, and make audiences wonder why she's slumming in such a lame storyline.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

By the end, everything that was initially serious about the film becomes silly and everything appealing about it turns sour.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

I'm far from being a fan of the sport, but the boxing sequences held me and the overall atmosphere appears reasonably authentic.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The script (by Cheryl Edwards, who wrote "Save the Last Dance") is shallow and dumb, the conflict (success goes to Jackie's head) is especially unconvincing, and director Charles S. Dutton shamelessly allows his own small part (as Jackie's mentor) to hog the camera.

USA Today Mike Clark

Though the movie is more mediocre than abysmal, Ryan's recently banged-up filmography (remember In the Cut) could use what every fighter needs at ringside: a good cut man to stop the bleeding.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

It's a weird anti-woman message masquerading in a movie about empowerment. And there's nothing inspired about that.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A shopworn studio contraption, slapped together from second-hand parts.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

Like a lot of sports movies, this biopic about boxing promoter Jackie Kallen is better than it has to be but not as good as it ought to be.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

Throw in the blatant signposting of every plot turn and mood shift, and what could have been a gripping tale becomes hammy and overdone.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

If they had to make things up, couldn't they have made up something smarter?

Variety Brian Lowry

Think of Against the Ropes as a "Rocky" story -- if, that is, the vintage is somewhere between "Rocky IV" and "V," and the action centered around the Burgess Meredith character as played by Meg Ryan wearing "Barbarella" outfits.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Ryan and the rest of the cast are forced to slug it out with the kind of trite dialogue that seems to have been lifted straight off of those corporate inspirational posters.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Right up to the ludicrous finale and an even more improbable denouement, everything rings Hollywood-false. More galling still, the filmmakers' inventions take the zing out of the facts.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Even by the standards of pop-moral parables passing for entertainment, this is bland stuff.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's a real shame that most new boxing movies try to copy the crowd-pleasing, sentiment-choked tactics of "Rocky" rather than the stark drama of "Raging Bull" or the realistic grit of "On the Waterfront" and "The Harder They Fall." Against the Ropes is only the latest sorry example. The sad thing is that, with this real-life story and subject, it could have been a contender.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A riotously awful biopic rife with stereotypes and boxing movie cliches, Against the Ropes represents -- among other things -- a woeful turn in its star's career.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Epps emerges mostly unscathed, and Dutton gives an excellent performance; he's as able before the camera as he is inept behind it.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

A cliché-ridden, condescending and ham-handed film that clumsily fails to bring to life what should be an interesting story. You might say none of its punches even comes close to connecting.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Ryan spends much of the grubby-looking boxing drama Against the Ropes with her face screwed up in distaste, as if a dirty sock is being waved under her nose. Perhaps it's because the movie she's in stinks.

Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown

For all I know, Ryan's performance could be a dead-on Kallen impression. But what she appears to be doing is an impression of Johnny Depp doing an impression of Keith Richards doing an impression of Liz Taylor.

Slate David Edelstein

Emminently skippable.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

The film is so anemic you should probably order iron supplements with your popcorn, its plot so predictable it makes falling dominoes seem like a white-knuckle thrill ride.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

There's not a believable moment in all of it, but for a while the film chugs along on Ryan's innate charisma. Even so, no amount of movie-star twinkle could lighten screenwriter Cheryl Edwards' bizarre character arc, which finds Jackie turning, overnight, into a callous, possibly racist, ninny.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Ryan never quite convinces us she's seen the inside of a fight gym, much less that she's worthy to be Rocky in a miniskirt. On the other hand, her director here was not Campion but actor Charles S. Dutton, whose behind-the-camera skills, developed via cable TV, tend toward the cartoonish.

Film Threat Don R. Lewis

Overall, this is just another boxing movie with few surprises and an awkward message to viewers.

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

As a gloves-off Erin Brockovich, Ryan never makes it into the ring.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

A boilerplate melodrama whose good guys and bad guys are so baldly drawn they could have been conceived by Friz Freleng.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Critics and audiences should unite to KO this loser.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Like the recent "Mona Lisa Smile," this tale could have been an effective feminist fable if it weren't so calculated.