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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