Battle of the Sexes
Directed by: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Written by: Simon Beaufoy
Starring: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Austin Stowell, Jessica McNamee, Natalie Morales, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, Lewis Pullman, Martha MacIsaac, James Mackay, Fred Armisen, John C. McGinley, Bridey Elliott, Mickey Summer, Wallace Langham, Eric Christian Olsen, Chris Parnell
Biography/Comedy/Sport - 121 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 Sep 2017
Written by: Simon Beaufoy
Starring: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Austin Stowell, Jessica McNamee, Natalie Morales, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, Lewis Pullman, Martha MacIsaac, James Mackay, Fred Armisen, John C. McGinley, Bridey Elliott, Mickey Summer, Wallace Langham, Eric Christian Olsen, Chris Parnell
Biography/Comedy/Sport - 121 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 21 Sep 2017
It’s not fair; it’s biology. Men are naturally stronger than women. It comes down to bone density. Men have families to support; therefore, they need more money. I’ve heard most of these patriarchal excuses before as reasons why men receive preferential treatment, especially in the financial arena. Granted, these explanations were far more outspoken in the 1970s, but variations of them exist today. Lost in our collective consciousness in 2017’s return of the Confederacy and the alt-right vs. the antifa culture wars, are discussions and updates on where we are on gender equality. The Million Woman March in Washington D.C. after Trump’s inauguration placed a momentary spotlight on Women’s Liberation and the movement's progress and setbacks, but the wave of indignation faded into the background once again as more vocal and angrier mobs took to the streets.
Johnathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s Battle of the Sexes examines how demands for equality and women’s rights impacted the sports world. But while a tennis match graces the movie poster and the taglines are all Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs, the film is far more expansive. Battle of the Sexes emerges as a dual-track biopic of King and Riggs in the early '70s and how they navigated their respective problems. With an opaque timeline so the audience has no real idea how far apart events in the film occur, it appears Billy Jean King led the women’s player boycott of the US Lawn and Tennis Association, discovered entirely knew and dangerous sectors of her sexual identity, and stepped up to defend woman-kind against a past his prime has-been looking to cash in on an eye-rolling, competitive gimmick all in the span of a couple months.
Johnathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s Battle of the Sexes examines how demands for equality and women’s rights impacted the sports world. But while a tennis match graces the movie poster and the taglines are all Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs, the film is far more expansive. Battle of the Sexes emerges as a dual-track biopic of King and Riggs in the early '70s and how they navigated their respective problems. With an opaque timeline so the audience has no real idea how far apart events in the film occur, it appears Billy Jean King led the women’s player boycott of the US Lawn and Tennis Association, discovered entirely knew and dangerous sectors of her sexual identity, and stepped up to defend woman-kind against a past his prime has-been looking to cash in on an eye-rolling, competitive gimmick all in the span of a couple months.
I assume these real-life events were spaced out a bit more, but you won’t know it from the screen. The other biopic is Bobby Riggs. Feeling boxed in by a ho-hum home life at odds with his earlier gambling days on the men’s tennis circuit, it is Riggs’ idea the two sniping sides of the feminist movement, and their corporate sponsors, pay sizable cash to watch two players settle the merits of man vs. woman once and for all. Riggs (Steve Carell, Café Society) is so over the top as his own hype man in his two matches agains the women’s elite. He mugs for the camera nude on a couch, dresses up as Little Bo Peep, and spots off well-rehearsed one-liners at press conferences.
Dayton and Faris do not portray Riggs as a true zealot; a guy who really believes all the nonsense he spouts. He’s in it for the dough and the notoriety. It’s an early version of a reality show. The comparison to contemporary politics is uncanny. Billie Jean King (Emma Stone, La La Land), on the other hand, is as serious as can be. At first, King wanted nothing to do with the loud-mouth man with a bullhorn. The film says King already had her hands full. King’s first fight is against Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman, American Ultra), men’s tennis big man on campus who kicks out King and all of her supporters from the pro-tennis circuit. On the personal side, King treads on eggshells around her husband (Austin Stowell, Bridge of Spies), because neither of them can find the vocabulary to discuss ‘the other woman’.
Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough, Nocturnal Animals) joins the women’s tour as their hair stylist and disregarding the increasing gossip, also becomes King’s hotel roommate. Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee), King’s fiercest on court competition, represents society as a whole with her judgements regarding sin and disgust. Alan Cumming, as the tour’s wardrobe stylist and one of the few openly gay guys in 1973, urges Billie to keep it in the closet; the world isn’t ready yet. That’s a whole bunch of plot; all of it leading toward the big showdown in the Houston Astrodome. If you already are familiar with the match’s outcome before you see the film, the lack of suspense is apparent.
Carell get the film’s best lines from writer Simon Beaufoy, especially during one of his Gambler’s Anonymous meetings where he berates the group. “You’re not here because you’re gamblers, you’re here because you’re terrible at it!” He’s probably right. The rest of Battle of the Sexes lacks the sort of punch and feeling you expect from the creators of Little Miss Sunshine and an A-List, powerhouse cast. The enterprise lacks surprise and any emotional moments you will remember later. As Billie hangs her head and cries alone in the locker room toward the end, I was shocked at how little the theater felt that moment. That scene is there because it just has to be; it doesn’t mean it works. Female tennis players continue to fight for respect on the tour. It was just last year when the recent #1 men’s champion, Novak Djokovic, said men should make more money because more fans come to see them play. If you think King vs. Riggs was popular, imagine the circus if Serena Williams called out someone like John McEnroe and made a fool of him on the court. Seriously, someone make that happen.
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