Plenty to love in film about Borg versus McEnroe

Lstroke. We learn that McEnroe idolized Borg, putting his poster on his wall and wearing a headband in emulation of the older man.

On the road to the 1980 finals, the filmmakers gives us flashbacks to each man’s childhood for insights. (The filmmakers get extra credit for casting Borg’s real-life son as a young Borg, who we see spending hours methodically smashing balls against a garage door.)

It also shows how people in these two men’s orbit — girlfriends, coaches and even fellow competitors — walk on eggshells around them, fearful of setting them off. To be the best in the world takes everything and leaves you slightly unhinged. Someone tells McEnroe: “It’s life and death for you. The others don’t feel the same. They’re not like you.”

Once the final Wimbledon match has been won — we’re not going to say who prevailed, we’re not totally awful — the two men happen to share a private moment in a public place that is touching and cathartic.

At one point, the camera during this exchange steps further away and we can no longer hear what these two champions are saying to each other. That’s fitting somehow: Only they — and anyone else who has been in their tennis shoes — can really understand.

“Borg Vs. McEnroe,” a Neon release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “language throughout and some nudity.” Running time: 107 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.