Shia LaBeouf confronts his erratic reputation at TIFF

Taylor Swift’s not the only star taking on her reputation.

On opening night at the Toronto International Film Festival Thursday, Shia LaBeouf crushed it with critics thanks to “Borg/McEnroe,” his new film focusing on the 1980 Wimbledon duel between controlled Swedish tennis star Bjorn Borg (played by Sverrir Gudnason) and explosive American underdog John McEnroe (LaBeouf ).

LaBeouf served up a pitch-perfect McEnroe, seeming to channel his own occasionally erratic offscreen persona — which most recently resulted in a July arrest in Georgia for public drunkenness. (The 31-year-old actor apologized afterward, saying he was “deeply ashamed” of his behaviour.)

In a press conference Thursday, LaBeouf called McEnroe’s antics misunderstood. “He was just trying to win,” he said. “Only after he got off the tour did he start having these questions about who and what” affected his reputation.

Last year, McEnroe had expressed doubts about the Hollywood film to Vanity Fair, and LaBeouf said Thursday the two have yet to meet. “But John, I’d love to meet you,” he offered. “He’s a busy guy.”

Following the première, critics cheered on LaBeouf ’s performance.

“Seems only right to say I (expletive) loved BORG/MCENROE,” Indiwire film editor Kate Erbland tweeted after the première. “Despite some uneven bits, it’s energetic, intense filmmaking that doesn’t let up.”

“I dig BORG/MCENROE but I walked out wishing it had just been a John McEnroe movie from start to finish. Perfect role for LaBeouf,” tweeted Fandango managing editor Erik Davis.

Variety was a fan of the film — and its racket-throwing tennis player. “Playing tennis may not seem the best use of LaBeouf ’s talents, but the star is terrific in a role that shrewdly plays off his controversial offscreen persona,” wrote Peter Debruge.

The A.V. Club had issues with the film’s direction, but A.A. Dowd says “the film’s minor pleasures lie almost exclusively in LaBeouf ’s willingness to lean into his own bad reputation.”

It will be a tennis-heavy festival thanks to the debut of doc “Love Means Zero” and Emma Stone and Steve Carell’s Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs biopic, “Battle of the Sexes,” which takes centre court Sunday.