Review
WIMBLEDON
Directed by Richard Loncraine
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany and Sam Neill
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The possibilities are endless – "Wimbledon serves up a great love story!" "Dunst and Bettany are a match!" "40-love: Wimbledon receives high scores on every court!" Thankfully, there is more to this film. Although it holds few surprises, the genuine script, sharp performances and clever details make it a rather enjoyable romantic comedy.
Kirsten Dunst plays the fiery Lizzie Bradbury, an American tennis player who plans on winning Wimbledon. Paul Bettany is the slightly disillusioned Peter Colt. Once ranked 11th in the world, he is now 157th, with little chance of winning anything more than obscurity and a career as a country-club tennis pro. When the two forces collide, Colt finds his focus, Bradbury finds her poise and both players find their hearts.
The two leads have a unique chemistry that governs their relationship on and off the court. Certainly, they could have phoned in their performances and the film still would have been fun to look at. Dunst is a believable golden girl whose determination and temper have earned her a feisty reputation. At times, the writers are guilty of trying too hard to have her character come across as the American fish in British waters, but Dunst holds back, plays it cool and makes Lizzie her own. Bettany is destined to be Hollywood’s next – albeit occasional – leading man. A less floppy version of Hugh Grant, he has mastered exclaiming, "Bollocks!" and performs the British version of humble very well.
The fabulous Bernard Hill, Eleanor Bron and Sam Neill comprise the cast of parents concerned about their respective champions and the cameos from Jon McEnroe and Chris Evert as themselves make for some funny self-referential moments.
The filmmaking is standard, injected with a few silly shots that follow a computer-generated tennis ball. Director Richard Loncraine recognizes that filming a tennis match is a limiting task, and while the attempt to liven up the camera work is appreciated, it’s unnecessary to establish these shots as a style choice more than once throughout the film.
Two sexy actors, the suspense of the game and a happy ending, not to mention a charming title sequence – the only thing missing from this formula is a hit song. Come to think of it, the score does sound an awful lot like Coldplay. |
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