Courting success
Biopic puts human faces on famed Wimbledon showdown of opposites
Tennis is a chess match, it’s a heavyweight fight, it’s gladiatorial combat. It’s a sledgehammer, a stiletto, a rapier, the barrel of a gun. It’s the sport of kings. It’s like trying to catch hummingbirds, or ignore the cooing of pigeons. It’s nothing short of life in miniature.
It is also, in Borg vs. McEnroe, “Inspired by true events,” and the metaphors come flying as though shot from an overstuffed ball machine in this energetic biopic from Danish director Janus Metz.
The film dramatizes Wimbledon 1980, when Swedish phenom Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) tried to win a record fifth straight title, playing against the brash U.S. upstart John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf ).
The two men could not have been more different if a Hollywood screenwriter had created them: Borg played like a machine, devoid of emotion, while McEnroe threw tantrums and occasionally his racket when he didn’t like a call.
BORG VS. McENROE
★★★ 1/2outof5 Cast: Sverrir Gudnason, Shia LaBeouf Director: Janus Metz Duration: 1h47m
Screenwriter Ronnie Sandahl tries to play with those differences by flashing back to a young Borg (played by the man’s real-life son, Leo) who was far more temperamental, and a little Johnny with a structured life and strict parents.
These are easily the weakest parts of the film, but they’re also a necessary evil if we’re going to have any sense of the men in their prime.
Far more exciting are the battles on the court, pumped up with fast-paced music and editing to match. Of course, it helps if you can’t remember the actual outcome of the game. Rest assured, it was a squeaker, and the film does such a good job of humanizing both players that you’re going to feel a twinge of sympathy no matter who loses.