Verdict: 'Against The Ropes' contains all the expected clichés of a boxing movie, albeit without the sense of style that often characterizes the best entries into the genre. Using race and gender as superficial window dressing, the flick aims hard for crowdpleasing but never quite gets there. Right up to the ludicrous finale and an even more improbable denouement, everything rings Hollywood-false. In trth, this is pure fairy tale and flimflam, and is as phony as a fixed fight!