The promoter
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The promoter |
| Original title | Against the Ropes |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2004 |
| length | 106 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Charles S. Dutton |
| script | Cheryl Edwards |
| production |
Robert W. Cort David Madden |
| music | Michael Kamen |
| camera | Jack N. Green |
| cut | Eric L. Beason |
| occupation | |
| |
The promoter is an American feature film from 2003. It is based on motifs from the life story of Jackie Kallen , who is considered one of the most successful boxing promoters of all time.
action
Jackie Kallen, the niece of boxing legend Ray Kallen, grew up with boxing. She is passionate about the sport, but has only made it to the secretary of a boxing promoter in Cleveland . Her boss works with the manager Sam LaRocca, who is said to have ties to the Mafia and who is considered one of the powerful men in the background. When LaRocca's husband loses in a fight, he drops him. Jackie, who criticizes his dealings with the boxers, receives the loser's contract for a dollar - and is supposed to prove that she can do better.
The boxer turns out to be a drug addict and is beaten up by another man on Jackie's first visit. Jackie buys this man, his name is Luther Shaw, out of prison and finally signs him. She becomes his promoter, gets him used to the "street fighting style" and better manners. She is supported by former trainer Felix Reynolds, who actually gave up boxing after a stroke , and by Gavin, the presenter of a local television station.
Luther Shaw turns out to be an exceptional talent. His talent quickly gets around in training and LaRocca shows himself to be a bad loser: He lets his influence play so that Jackie Shaw cannot register for a fight in Cleveland and the surrounding area. Shaw is slowly making a name for himself through small boxing matches outside of Cleveland. Soon larger TV stations are interested in Shaw, but even more in Jackie, who is the first successful promoter to revolutionize boxing. Jackie's success goes to his head, at a press conference she humiliates Shaw because of his poor knowledge of grammar and finally, contrary to all agreements, brings the HBO television team into Shaw's cabin before a major fight . He terminates her collaboration. Gavin, who has accompanied Shaw's career from the very beginning and supported him on his programs, also terminates Jackie's friendship because she ignored his exclusive coverage contract for the major broadcaster HBO.
Jackie realizes that she made mistakes. Since Shaw wants to immediately sign a contract with LaRocca, but is bound by Jackie's contract, she terminates his contract on one condition: He should get a fight against reigning world champion Pedro Hernandez. LaRocca agrees and starts the fight: In just three weeks Shaw is supposed to step into the ring against the champion and everyone knows that he cannot defeat him after such a short preparation period.
Since LaRocca's other condition was that Jackie should never be at a Shaw fight again, she hears the start of the fight on the radio and later watches from a greater distance. After the second round, Shaw almost went k. o. and Jackie storms to the ring. She apologizes to him and at the last second gives him the valuable clues that will eventually enable him to beat Hernandez. Shaw becomes the new boxing world champion, but Jackie has already left the hall at this point.
After the fight, Shaw, LaRocca and his men celebrate victory. Jackie enters the room with Felix Reynolds. An icy silence ensues as Shaw approaches them. He starts to applaud and everyone else - including LaRocca and his men - finally joins the applause.
template
The script is based on the story of the journalist Jackie Kallen, who has been a successful boxing manager since the late 1980s and brought several of her contract boxers to the world championship. The cinematic implementation is described as unsuccessful in the majority of the reviews. First and foremost, the person Meg Ryan is taken up and thus the question, which has already been raised several times in recent years, whether she is suitable for such dramatic roles with her image as an actress playing romantic roles.
criticism
“The story is as predictable as it is clichéd, but thanks to surprising staging nuances, it manages to make ends meet. The fable gets attractive barbs from the successful white woman and the black racket shaped into a top athlete, which pointedly impale sexism in the boxing industry. "
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
Web links
- Against the Ropes in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ The promoter. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .