Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

To me, this movie is perfection.

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is a not-very-well-written film that nonetheless has redeeming features. The story arc is clichéd, (underdog succeeds against all odds, hubris sets in, everything lost, then redemption), and Meg Ryan, who I think is a better actress than some, is badly miscast here. She just can't come across as tough enough for this role. The slutty clothes her character wore, although looking very nice, didn't fit. (Even though I'm sure she was channeling Kallen) Omar Epps put in a very nice performance, and I have to compliment Kerry Washington and Charles S. Dutton for their work, although there was not enough of Washington. Also Tony Shalhoub who I haven't much cared for, shows his chops by going against type playing an imposing and menacing character. I see that Dutton directed and did well, inasmuch as I never noticed the direction. This film has deep faults, but somehow works, at least to a point. I thought it was OK.

Meg Ryan pulls a great performance as the underdog of this movie. Playing a real person is never easy and being a woman in boxing holds as much discrimination on its own without adding that she works it with sex appeal. You can't hate a story when it comes from true events and both Shaloub and Ryan pull off their characters with finesse. Don't hate her because she's not in her much loved romantic comedy persona; love that she pulled off the Midwestern girl honoring her father's memory and her uncles love with dedicating her life to boxing. Comparing Omar Epps to Tom Hanks is so inappropriate in this film. There is never meant to be a love connection between Epps and Ryan. It's more of a mothering relationship; the son she never had and the mothering he never received. You are either going to love or hate this movie. Be assured you'll watch it till' the end and will have an opinion one way or the other.

Sloppy, sentimental boxing comedy-drama is based on successful female boxing manager Jackie Kallen's tough rise to the top ('loosely inspired' seems a more appropriate term). Meg Ryan plays Kallen with a streetwise edge in her voice and is appropriately cast, but her outlandish wardrobe certainly belies the salary of a glorified secretary, and Tony Shalhoub embarrasses himself as a 'Godfather'-styled kingpin of the boxing mecca (he dresses and talks like John Gotti, but only seems to have one client). Charles Dutton directed, and his own performance as the veteran trainer (yet another cliché) is at least warmly thought out--ironically, it's the best acting here. "Ropes" is a lackluster film, put together and distributed as if nobody involved had a hope in hell for it. The boxing scenes are slapdash, with Ryan walking right across the ring at one point to deliver a last-second pep-talk to Omar Epps, the kind of conspiratorial speech that is older than dirt (why doesn't she just say, "Win one for the Gipper"?). Omar's rise to success is swifter than a bad odor, which is pretty much what this misfire leaves in its wake. *1/2 from ****

This is one of the few great boxing movies out there. The fighting actually looks as if it could be in a real ring as apposed to many of those other fight flix out there. Meg Ryan is still absolutely gorgeous at her age and pulls of the role wonderfully. This is a movie that you will be able to watch several times and still get some enjoyment out of it. I love the fact that although this could be considered a "girl-power" type of movie that it appeals to the male crowd and does not come across as man-bashing. I had to purchase this movie as soon as it came out because it got me pumped to go out and try for anything. This movie has slight humorous undertones, however, in my opinion it will appeal much more to a crowd that is seeking a drama. A must see!