It’s the summer of 1980 and Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) is the top tennis
player in the world, dominating the sport both on and off the court. A
powerful and rigorously disciplined player, there is only one obstacle in
his pursuit of a record-breaking fifth Wimbledon championship: the highly
talented but ferociously abrasive young American, John McEnroe (a perfectly
cast Shia LaBeouf). With three days until the tournament begins, Borg
trains religiously in his lavish Monaco home, aided by his coach and mentor
Lennart (Stellan Skarsgård) and girlfriend Mariana (Tuva Novotny). But
McEnroe's explosive confidence and wrecking-ball persona continue to
infiltrate Borg's ice-cool and normally unshakable temperament. With each
man the antithesis of the other, both players delve into their formative
memories as the climactic tournament draws near and anticipation reaches
fever pitch. Visceral and breathlessly tense, the match itself - regarded
as one of the greatest of all time - would mark the pinnacle of the ‘Fire
and Ice’ rivalry between Borg and McEnroe; an exhilarating battle of
personalities that set the world of tennis alight.
Review
A solid sports movie that wisely keeps the tennis action limited until the
famous 1980 Wimbledon final at the end.
Given the largely Scandinavian creative crew behind the film, it's perhaps
unsurprising that the film chooses to focus on Bjorn Borg's transformation
from volatile junior player (played, in a nice touch, by Borg's son Leo, an
impressive tennis player in his own right) to the outwardly calm, privately
doubtful and ritual obsessed champion.
Impressively played by Sverrir Gudnason, Borg's story may dominate but Shia
LaBoeuf more than holds his own with his portrayal of McEnroe. It's the
kind of role that, along with the recent American Honey, shows how good an
actor he can be. Stellan Skarsgard and Tuva Novotny are also excellent as
Borg's coach Lennart Bergelin and soon to be wife Mariana Simionescu
respectively.
Former documentary filmmaker Janus Metz (his Danish soldiers in Helmand
Province doc Armadillo is well worth a look) and screenwriter Ronnie
Sandahl do a fine job juggling the scenes of the tense build up to the
final and the youthful flashbacks, plus it looks fantastic thanks to
cinematographer Niels Thastum (whose excellent work on Danish werewolf
movie When Animals Dream is also worth checking out).
Successful and convincing sports films are tricky to pull off, but Borg Vs
McEnroe is a worthy addition to the genre.
