Wimbledon Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)September 27th, 2004
Wimbledon
Matinee with Snacks
The preview makes Wimbledon look like another witty Working Title romantic comedy, peppered with a few famous faces, dry self deprecation, stretched across a tennis framing device. Point of fact, this is a very witty movie about a man finding himself and more, partially with the assistance of the love of a woman, but mostly through really committing himself to follow his passions. It's also about him doing all this at tennis' biggest (or most famous, anyway) competition. And it's funny.
Paul Bettany you might recall from such films as A Beautiful Mind and Master and Commander; freed from Russell Crowes' sidekickery, he is charming, engaging, dynamic, funny - and who knew he could be so completely sexy? It came as a surprise to us as well. He is appealing in his modest resignation and in his triumphant moments equally. Good thing, seeing as he's in nearly every frame of the film, apparently playing his own tennis in long, multi-lob shots. I don't know if the games are real or computer-assisted, but I completely bought them. The story centers so squarely on him, it's almost an intrusion when they introduce Kirsten Dunst. Almost.
Bettany's career has already peaked, and while he has made it to Wimbledon, he is a charming relic, who is recognizable and pitiable at once. He knows this, his family knows this, the crowds know this. He just wants to disappear into his new life as a once-famous person gracefully and peacefully. Naturally, something will happen to disrupt this plan.
A word on tennis: I hate it. The idea of a movie about Wimbledon, the epicenter of white-clad yahoos swatting yellow balls, would normally be an excruciating affair - but I really loved Wimbledon. I was at the edge of my seat during the matches, nibbling my nails nervously. The exciting camera work didn't hurt, as well as the dips into Bettany's brain when he was playing, the pans of the crowd with their overwhelming sense of pressure, the ball-following camera, all of it. Very cool.
Nubile athlete Dunst is an interesting foil for Bettany. She's not Hollywood stunning that she's unapproachable, and not so brassy American that she's off-putting. He seems much more mature than she does, in years and in experience, and as an actor and as a character, but the contrast works, considering their mutual benefits to each other. If you saw Bring It On, you know she's got the endurance and the comedy chops to survive Working Title country.
It's a more involved journey for Bettany than just meeting a girl or playing some tennis, and by the end you just want to follow everyone to wherever life takes them. It should not be pigeonholed as a chick flick, either - it's really a man's story (that girls can love too). Go see it.
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