Just watched this film after someone here recommended it and I loved it. I never knew the history between these two until I watched it. I wish there were more tennis movies like this. I could totally see someone making a similar movie some day about Federer/Nadal and Wimbledon 2008 or maybe even about the Big 3 in general.
Anyway, if you haven’t seen this yet, watch it - I highly recommend it.
Date started (challenge): 3/29/20 Date started (movie): 3/7/21 Date finished (movie): 3/7/21
Synopsis: The story of the 1980 tennis rivalry between the placid Björn Borg and the volatile John McEnroe.
Rating: 7.5/10
I’m not a big tennis guy. I knew barely anything about Borg or McEnroe. But I’m always down for a great sports drama and I decided to give it a go.
Even if you don’t like tennis, I’d recommend this one. I thought it worked well as a character-based movie. Borg and McEnroe are complete opposites of each other and although they rarely ever cross paths, I liked the juxtaposition. I loved the character McEnroe, played by Shia LaBeouf. Not that he’s a particularly likeable character, I just liked the way he was characterized.
Borg, on the other hand, is a very likeable character with good characterization as well. He’s cool/cold and calm and isn’t a man of many words. And they provide a reason for that throughout the movie. That’s why it’s so good, is because of the flashbacks that happen in the movie.
And the climax is just as tense as you would expect from a sports drama. That’s why I love sports dramas. It’s probably more nerve wracking and drawn out in this movie than some others though.
Overall: A really good sports drama, even if you don’t like tennis. It works more as a character study than anything else and that’s what makes it really good. Character-based approaches to sports dramas are my favorite and this one delivers. The juxtaposition between the wound up, tense but unlikeable McEnroe and the cold, calm, focused Borg is great and the creators characterized both of them really well. The flashbacks and the development of the characters add to it. The climax is very nerve-wracking and tense, way more drawn out than made me comfortable but I liked that. Overall, it’s a great movie that I’d recommend.
