Love in Tennis...

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2006)

I bet everybody wonders what's going through Roger Federer or Leyton Hewitt's mind when they are about to serve or to receive. Tennis is one of the world sports that require the most concentration and it is also one of those where there's no tie; either you are a winner or you are a looser.
"Wimbledon" deals with all of this, during the tournament with the same name and in the mind of Peter Colt (Paul Bettany), an old pro that is ranked 119 in the world, and when anybody meets him they say: "You were once 15th in the world", or "You were the 17th". Colt corrects: "Actually it was 11th, and for the most part of 1996". A player always remembers things like that; it's a big deal.
So Colt is loosing his game, and Adam Brooks, Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin let us know what he's thinking with their screenplay. Not one of them has written anything very respectable in the past, but they go through Colt's mind and they handle all of the clichés of the romantic comedy, and they do it very well.
It's Wimbledon, and it's Colt last professional tournament because of a "wild card", and he meets Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), a rising young player who's playing too, and they begin to win; in tennis and inBecause Paul Bettany is a great actor the romantic part is a perfect fit for him; even when he hasn't done romantic films. Because Kirsten Dunst is a fine actor and experienced in the chemistry department; she's a perfect fit too; and the most responsible in making the couple work.
Characters like Lizzie's father (Sam Neil) and Peter's agent (John Favreau) are two necessary inclusions for the plot of the genre; to make us laugh or to make us get angry. That's the only reason why we are able to accept them instantly and anticipate most of their actions. We also get the best friend, training partner and coincidentally rival (Nicolaj Coaster-Waldau) who gives advice and says it's all alright.
This is not a film about real situations at all, but there's a sense of reality in scenes like the one that shows the way Peter family lives; with all the simplicity of the world, and all their love to support their son. Even his brother, who always bets against him, loves him and wants him to succeed. Or images where the people support their best British player in their tournament; cheering him as he leaves the hotel for a match.
The movie works mostly because of the performances but also because it makes tennis its main attraction and it doesn't disappoint. I play tennis, and the matches are as real as it can get, in a movie where they must have been choreographed. There's no way director Richard Loncraine could have shot an entire match, but he managed so the viewer could feel entertained.
Besides, his camera possesses a lot of movement, and when Peter's thinking, it goes round and round, and when he's playing, it's changing frames constantly; and when he's going to look for his love and she's waiting, it just follows through as it should be, because of the very important moment finding love is.