Retelling of nativity falls flat
Borg vs McEnroe (M, 108mins) Directed by Janus Metz ★★★1⁄2
This second cinematic tennis duel of 2017 surprisingly lacks the fireworks you might expect.
For although Danish director Janus Metz’s (Armadillo) drama is about the eponymous Centre Court champions, it’s less about their rivalry and more about how similar these seemingly disparate personalities were.
The media always billed their matches as the seemingly unflappable Swede against the hotheaded American – Iceborg vs Superbrat.
But as writer Ronnie Sandahl’s fascinating, if sometimes frustrating, fractured narrative suggests, the pair simply chose different approaches to dealing with the pressure.
The best and most enlightening scenes focus on Borg’s youth.
We learn how the talented troublemaker (played brilliantly by Bjorn’s son Leo Borg) was nearly thrown out of the sport for ungentlemanly conduct, with only the advice and support of veteran coach Lennart Bergelin (Stellan Skarsgard), who controversially backed him to play in a Davis Cup tie against the then mighty New Zealand at age 15, focusing his energies in the right direction.
In contrast, McEnroe’s narrative feels a little undercooked (it is perhaps important to remember that this is actually a Scandinavian film boasting lashings of subtitles) with an admittedly quite brilliantly cast Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) chewing the scenery and every umpire’s ear as he works through the effects of a childhood where he couldn’t impress his parents no matter what he achieved.
Like his opposite number Sverrier Gudnason, LaBeouf certainly throws himself into the role as the ‘‘worst representative of American rules since Al Capone’’, even if his tennis won’t convince regular club players.
In the end, Borg vs McEnroe feels like an excellent primer for those born too late to remember the pair in their pomp and an interesting character study for those who were gripped by their contrasting styles.
– James Croot
The Star (G, 86mins) Directed by Timothy Reckart ★★
Bo (Steven Yeun) is an ass with ambition. Not for him is a life yoked to a mill – no, he harbours dreams of joining the Royal Caravan.
But after a break for freedom with best pigeon buddy Dave (Keegan-Michael Key) ends in disaster, he suddenly finds himself in the unlikely employ of young couple Joseph (Zachary Levi) and Mary (Gina Rodriguez).
While the former isn’t exactly over the moon about having another mouth to feed, he’s actually got bigger issues to contend with.
His new bride his just informed him she’s six months pregnant with the son of God.
An odd mix of biblical adventure and anthropomorphic animal animated comedy, this retelling of the Nativity story is probably the only movie which contains lines like ‘‘remember the grace of this moment’’, alongside ‘‘I’m going to find someone to poop on’’. Yes, while it aims to combine celebrity voices, memorable music and Christian values, The Prince of Egypt this ain’t.
Weirdly, while the animals muse about ‘‘following stars’’, our actually quite likeable human pairing remind one of Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl in Knocked Up. ‘‘I’m not a father of a King, I’m just a carpenter,’’ bemoans a bemused Joseph.
A religious holiday oddity. – James Croot