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.

Inspired by the life of Jackie Kallen, the film is directed by Charles S. Dutton and written by Cheryl Edwards. Robert W. Cort and David Madden serve as producers; Steven Roffer, Jonathan Pillot and Scarlett Lacey are the executive producers and Jackie Kallen serves as associate producer.

Against the Ropes also stars Omar Epps as Luther Shaw, Kallen’s champion-in-the-making, and features Tony Shalhoub as Midwest boxing kingpin Sam LaRocca and Tim Daly as TV sports reporter Gaven Ross. Charles S. Dutton is veteran trainer Felix Reynolds and Kerry Washington is Kallen’s best friend and co-worker at the Cleveland Coliseum.

Jackie Kallen began her career in journalism during the mid-sixties. Later, after marrying and having two children, she expanded her work into radio and television. By the end of the next decade, she had become a respected sportswriter, after which she opened her own public relations firm, representing a wide variety of professional athletes, including her first client, boxer Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns. In the late eighties, Kallen decided to take on what would become her most challenging career endeavor to date: She would manage her own boxers.

But at the time, a woman’s place in the sordid and sanguine world of boxing was usually limited to wearing a bikini and strutting around the ring between rounds. This exciting film truly packs a punch.

Distributor: UIP
Running Time: 1hour 40mins
Release Date: 14th May 2004
Certificate: 12A

www.againsttheropes.com