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RINGSIDE SEATS
Ryan with director Charles S Dutton, who also plays Epps’ trainer in the film
“I give Meg a lot of credit for putting so much of her heart and soul and time into researching her role,” says Kallen. “She went to the gyms with me and watched the guys train. She watched them get their hands wrapped, went into the locker rooms to see all the preparation before a fight. And I let her borrow all of my scrapbooks, diaries and pictures to help her visualise everything.”
What struck Ryan most about the fight business was the contrast between the distilled purity of what goes on in the ring, and the colourful outlaw world that comes into existence as soon as the fighters step off the canvas.
“Boxing is so completely stripped down,” she says. “It’s bare bones, full of very primal human emotion, which makes for great drama. I like the simplicity of the sport and the fact that there are no teams, no real equipment - just the strength of two men in conflict. Still, brutal as the sport is, there is something innately beautiful about it.
“Outside the ring, however, it’s a completely different story. In fact, I think it’s one of the most corrupt worlds I’ve ever seen, with broad, outrageous characters. It’s definitely an incredibly vivid environment.”
Of the two lead actors, however, Ryan’s co-star faced the biggest challenge when it came to preparing for the film. Despite being a natural athlete who keeps himself in shape, Epps had to learn the body-language of boxing.
“As hard as it was, it was worth every bead of sweat because I knew that I was bringing Luther to life,” says the actor, an ER regular who will be remembered by international audiences for his co-starring role in Takeshi Kitano’s Brother. “I had to do anything and everything I could to get my body and mind to the same place as the character. The repetition and the wear and tear on my body were the toughest parts of the training.
“But the fun stuff was throwing punches, sparring and finding Luther’s style. Every great professional boxer has his own style, and it’s those specific boxing techniques that can make a fight and a fighter even more exciting.”
“Not only am I a boxing fan, but I’m also a fan of boxing movies and I’ve seen most of them,” adds Dutton. “It was my feeling that, if we didn’t get people to believe what was going on inside the ring, they certainly weren’t going to believe what was going on outside it.”
With award-winning veteran Jack Green behind the camera, Against the Ropes shot exteriors in Cleveland, but most of the rest of the film was shot in Canada, with Toronto’s Fort York Armoury standing in for the boxing venue in Buffalo, New York, and the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, doubling for its Cleveland counterpart. And, in the closing scenes of the movie, Kallen herself appears on screen for a cameo role as what she used to be: a sports reporter.
“Jackie Kallen was not a breath of fresh air when she blew into the fight game,” concludes Dutton. “She was a hurricane. She accomplished what 90 percent of men in the game spend their entire lifetimes trying to do: she found a fighter and took him all the way to a championship.
“Because it was her first time out of the blocks, she was resented for it - and she still is in some boxing circles today. But to me - and I think to anyone who sees this film - her success is a testament to guts, courage, chutzpah, persistence… and genius.”
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10. Fight Club (US, 1999). Based on a best-selling novel, David Fincher’s film about underground no-holds-barred fighting is more about philosophy that fisticuffs - but compelling stuff all the same, with a top-flight cast (Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter).
9. Hard Times (US, 1975, aka The Streetfighter). The ultimate bare-knuckle fight movie, set during the Depression, with Walter Hill getting great performances out of Charles Bronson as the taciturn fighter and James Coburn as his manager.
8. Girlfight (US, 2000). The only major movie about a female boxer (unless you count Margi Clarke in Blonde Fist), with a career-making performance by Michelle Rodriguez. First-timer Karyn Kusama wrote and directed.
7. Gentleman Jim (US, 1942). The life and times of Irish-American boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett, with a top action director (Raoul Walsh) and Erroll Flynn as the first heavyweight champion of the modern era.
6. Rocky (US, 1976). What can I say? The one with Stallone as the underdog who keeps getting the crap beaten out of him but ends up a champ all the same. A Best Picture/Best Director winner which spawned four increasingly formulaic follow-ups.
5. The Set-up (US, 1949). A wonderful combination of film noir and boxing movie, with a battered-looking Robert Ryan determined to win that one last fight before calling it a day. As if. Robert Wise directed.
4. The Boxer (US/Ireland, 1997). Writer/director Jim Sheridan’s tale (co-written by Terry George) about a boxer caught up in the sectarian politics of Belfast. Daniel Day Lewis is the boxer; real-life champion Terry McGuigan was the model.
3. Somebody Up There Likes Me (US, 1956). Robert Wise is again the director, with Paul Newman the star in another fictionalised life story, this time of heavyweight champ Rocky Graziano. James Dean was originally cast as Rocky before his fatal car crash intervened.
2. Ali (US, 2001). The story of one of the defining figures of 20th-century sport, with Will Smith dancing like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, and director Michael Mann exploring the wider implications.
1. Raging Bull (US, 1980) Martin Scorsese’s fictionalised biopic of might-have-been Jake LaMotta is unique in being a boxing movie in which the fighting is an integral part of a much bigger story. Robert De Niro won an Oscar for his performance.
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AGAINST THE ROPES
Paramount Pictures presents a Cort/Madden production
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Prod: Robert W Cort, David Madden; Exec prod: Steven Roffer, Jonathan Pillot, Scarlett Lacey; Assoc prod: Jackie Kallen; Dir: Charles S Dutton; Scr: Cheryl Edwards; Ph: Jack N Green; Prod des: Sandra Kybartas; Cost des: Ruth Carter; Ed: Eric L Beason; Mus: Michael Kamen.
With Meg Ryan (Jackie Kallen), Omar Epps (Luther Shaw), Tony Shalhoub (Sam LaRocca), Tim Daly (Gavin Reese), Kerry Washington (Renee), Joe Cortese (Irving Abel), Charles S Dutton (Felix Reynolds), Tory Kittles (Devon Greene).
International distribution: Paramount Pictures/UIP
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