Review: Borg McEnroe


Exploring the personalities and rivalry between tennis great Bjorn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) and tempestuous young American player John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf) who may be Borg’s biggest barrier to a 5th Wimbledon finals win. Stellan Skarsgaard plays Borg’s loyal coach.



Directed by Janus Metz Pedersen (mostly from a TV and documentary background) and scripted by Ronnie Sandahl (writer-director of something called “Underdog”), this 2017 flick is, like “Battle of the Sexes” a fine, but unremarkable retelling of a very memorable bit of sporting history. I’m not old enough to remember seeing Bjorn Borg play, but I did catch the tail end of John McEnroe’s career, and it’s interesting here to see two such seemingly polar opposite personalities pitted against one another. Yet, the film does show that even the ice-cool Borg had his tempestuous side as well. He just wasn’t a total douchebag about it like McEnroe. Borg had a lot of pressure on him and moments of self-doubt, he was practically unbeatable yet he was worried that just one loss would erase all of his wins.



Sverrir Gudnason looks a lot like the photos I’ve seen of Borg and gives a really good performance in the role. Shia LaBeouf doesn’t look anything like John McEnroe, and I honestly didn’t care. Why? Because Shia LaBeouf was born to play John McEnroe. He’s not only acceptable, the casting is just downright hilarious to me. I can’t think of another actor off-hand who deserved the role the way LaBeouf does. I mean, McEnroe’s epic douchebaggy behaviour is funny/pathetic enough on its own, but seeing it filtered through the ‘DO IT!’ guy? That puts it over the line into sheer glee for me.



This European-made film clearly does favour Borg a bit, and McEnroe’s misery is frankly of his own doing. However, the screenwriter does seem to have at least some sympathy for both players, who each had their own pressures placed on them. McEnroe’s still a prat, though if you ask me. In fact, I much prefer him as a commentator than a player. Stellan Skarsgaard is fine in support playing a frankly pretty dull person.



The film is no world-beater but tennis/sports fans will want to see this and I found it pretty interesting to. Like a lot of these films though, I think I’d rather watch a documentary on the subject, even if that meant missing out on the prize stunt casting of Shia LaBeouf (And make no mistake, that is indeed what it is IMHO).



Rating: B-

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