Nothing Special - mild spoilers

Rating: 5/10 (8 August 2005)

"Wimbleton" is the kind of movie that fails to impress if one is familiar with the romantic comedy genre. The plot itself is so-so: A retiring professional tennis player who has lost his zeal finds his love of the game re-inspired by a top female tennis player during his final tournament. Add in the typical romantic comedy quirks - sassy lead female, charming lead male, quirky sidekicks, somehow deficient male rival, contrived embarrassments, a final conflict between lovers that ends in a reunion - and we've all seen this movie before we've even seen it. One could argue that the script writers weren't setting out to write Shakespeare, but would it be so bad to be a little original?
Paul Bettany is wonderful as the disheartened Peter Colt. His role doesn't really require much range, but Paul's performance exceeds what is written on script. It's not enough to cover for the mediocre script, but it's better than nothing. Kirsten Dunst's Lizzie Bradbury is written similarly one-dimensional, although her performance adds enough obnoxiousness to keep us from wishing for more. While supposedly charming and charismatic, Kirsten comes off as childish and annoying. True, the zeal of children can be quite inspiring, but it doesn't quite work out when that zeal is coming from the love interest. It really highlights the age difference between Paul and Kirsten. I don't think we are intended to think of Peter as a cradle robber throughout the film, but that is the end result. While Peter seems to be a late 20s/early 30s man, Lizzie seems like a 16 year old girl. What's especially disheartening is that Kirsten appears to play the same character again in "Elizabethtown."
The supporting cast is well cast and work well with the leads. I suppose this is a silly argument due to the plot of the film, but I found the tennis matches boring. Paul's voice-overs seem more of a hindrance than anything else - I'm not sure what it is about them, but I could have done without. Overall, this is nothing to rush out and see.