'KNOCKOUT' PLOT, DIALOGUE NEED MORE PUNCH.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

And you thought the days of characters uttering the phrase ``let your light shine'' outside Hallmark city limits were behind us. No such luck.

That's exactly the significant advice a mother gives her 9-year-old daughter, Belle, in ``Knockout,'' director Lorenzo Doumani's clunky film about pursuing one's dreams. Belle the impressionable daughter grows up to be Belle the beautiful boxer, a ``knockout'' who - get it? - knocks people out.

A smarter, more insightful film explores what a woman goes through when she penetrates a male-dominated sport. But ``Knockout,'' written by Mark Stevens and Doumani, is neither smart nor deep. It's a watered-down ``Rocky'' with a predictable plot and bone-crunchingly stupid dialogue that probably should have been a cable TV movie.

The only thing we really learn about Belle (played as an adult by newcomer Sophia Adella Hernandez) is she needs to fight. Why? Presumably because her father (Tony Plana) used to box before giving up a career as a golden gloves champ to become a cop. He made this sacrifice at the request of Belle's mother (Maria Conchita Alonso, in a cameo) who, in addition to her ``let your light shine'' advice, also concludes ``we shouldn't have to give up the thing we love to be with the one we love.'' Which isn't Belle's problem: Her boyfriend Mario (Eduardo Yanez) is her trainer.

Belle's ring quest is also spurred by seeing her pugilistic best friend Sandra (Gina La Plana) get seriously roughed up by Tanya ``The Terminator'' Tessaro (Fredia Gibbs). You don't need the Psychic Friends Hotline to guess Belle and the Terminator are destined for a showdown.

Plana has a couple of real moments, and the usually excellent Paul Winfield sleepwalks through a role as a wheelchair-dependent promoter. It's too early for a verdict on Hernandez's acting chops, since, despite all her screen time, she's given surprisingly little to work with. However, she certainly looks like she belongs in the ring, and the fight scenes are convincing.

But the movie feels false in so many other ways. Despite all the talk about ``getting off the streets'' and away from gangs, East L.A. isn't portrayed as dangerous. Our only indication that Belle, her father and Mario have ``escaped'' a worse fate is a showdown between the cops and a couple of kids carrying automatic weapons that look like they're off the shelf of Toys R Us. And Belle? Before plunging into the fight game, she's teaching aerobics at a seniors center. How dangerous is that?

The fault is primarily the script's, which can't deliver its up-from-the-streets premise. Doumani may have envisioned his heroine as ``Rocky.'' In ``Knockout,'' she comes across as little more than a gimmick with a decent right hook.

THE FACTS

--The film: ``Knockout'' (PG-13; language and violence).

--The stars: Sophia Adella Hernandez, Maria Conchita Alonso, Tony Plana, Paul Winfield.

--Behind the scenes: Directed by Lorenzo Doumani. Screenplay by Doumani and Mark Stevens. Released by Renegade Movies.

--Running time: One hour, 40 minutes.

--Playing: Citywide.

--Our rating: one and 1/2 stars

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: Sophia Adella Hernandez plays an aerobics instructor who turns to boxing to make her father (Tony Plana) proud and to avenge a friend's loss in the ring in ``Knockout.

Box: THE FACTS (see text)