Borg vs McEnroe review: Legendary rivalry brought to life
By Matt Conway
Featuring a stunning turn from Shia LaBeouf, Borg vs McEnroe does justice to its classic rivalry and it sport.
Sports movies are a dying breed in today’s cinematic climate, which is particularly sad to mega sports fans like myself. With sports embodying so much about humanity, sport movies often make for truly great films. Recent examples like Rush have shown that the genre still has the power to move today.
Bringing the game of tennis to life on the big screen is Borg vs. McEnroe, which premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. The film follows Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, two radically different tennis players who are at the top of their game. When they meet in the 1980 final, the two play in what is now known as the greatest match in the history of tennis.
Borg vs McEnroe certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel when it comes to the sports genre, but it executes its compelling true story with the appropriate amount of craft and intensity.
More from Movies
- The story of a French emperor: Here’s where Napoleon will stream after theaters
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes honors its origins and far surpasses them
- Thanksgiving movie death toll: Why [SPOILER] is still alive
- No, Thanksgiving is not streaming yet (But here’s where it’ll land)
- Trolls Band Together soundtrack guide: Which songs play in the movie?
Elevating the film substantially is the performances, which bring to life the real-life figures with notable authenticity. Sverrir Gudnason is effective as Borg, capturing a quiet, yet intense man grappling with the intense weight of his success. The standout however is Shia LaBeouf, who seemed to be born to bring John McEnroe to life. Whether its McEnroe’s legendary rants or impassioned responses, LaBeouf captures McEnroe’s jittery and intense persona to a tee. Both actors are able to seamlessly disappear into their roles, which is far from a given in most biopics.
Borg vs McEnroe thankfully doesn’t play it safe from a filmmaking department. Janus Metz makes his impression known during the film’s final act, in which the legendary match is brought to life with cinematic flourishes like fast cuts and intense shots. I credit Metz for actually capturing the excitement of the sport of tennis along with the endless effort its athletes put into the game. Scribe Ronnie Sandahl’s script is able to capture what made these athletes so fascinating and reflect it onto the screen.
Next: You Were Never Really Here Review
Sadly, the balance between the athletes isn’t quite as it should be. So much of the film focuses on Borg’s journey that at times, McEnroe is left on the side of the road. This is particularly troubling because I would argue that the latter is the more interesting character, with the film exploring the man behind so many iconic hot-tempered moments. The script also is plagued by many cliches that have effected other sports movies, most notably the generally one-dimensional approach to these characters.
Borg vs McEnroe may not quite be up to the level of its legendary subjects, but it does an admirable job at bringing them to life. I wouldn’t mind seeing a sequel of sorts in the future, anything to see LaBeouf bring McEnroe back to the big screen again.