Serves up a nice love story in a very believable environment; just don't watch it for its Tennis.

Rating: 6/10 (13 July 2007)

The film Wimbledon does something that, in a way, is rather underhand: it combines sport with romance in order to branch it out amongst targeted audience  in this case, the sport is Tennis. True, a few years ago I wouldn't have touched a 'rom-com' with a barge pole but I've come to respect them a little more what with seeing the one that started it all off (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and really liking it.
Although I don't play Tennis, I'm still rather fond of it so I was always going to give this a go as sport as a film genre fascinates me  just to see how they do it and what route they actually take. The situation surrounding watching Wimbledon was rather similar to when I watched Tin Cup a few summers ago; romance mixed with a sport: Golf, something I do actually play and, deep down, love. However, unlike Tin Cup or most other sporting films; this is named after an actual location; an actual sporting event  it would've been a very different film had Tin Cup been entitled 'U.S. Open' and the reasons are evident in this film.
Wimbledon is, on the surface; a film with very impressive cinematography, funny and quirky character development as well as staying as real as possible off the court even though on it, it falls short. The film makes good use of its location and the ground scenes of Wimbledon really do put you there as the characters mingle with one another, take time out in locker rooms and practice on the practice courts. The film also moves along at what first appears to be a pleasant pace but soon feels like it has descended into such a 'lets just rush to the good stuff when they're together', you just don't notice the chance encounters that build up. Once the two leads are together, they then turn into such a celebrity couple the film quickly begins to rely on certain things like the two running away from photographers whilst laughing and joking to act as its humour. Suddenly, the 'getting to know you' script routine which was actually funny at times has been made redundant and we're having farce presented to us to act as the comedy. The couple even have time to drive down to the coast during the championships; a scene that tries to create some sort of a bond between the two as they play a game of 'air' Tennis.
So, off the court things are a little up and down which is one thing. On the court, things fall a little flat and that's being nice since there isn't much there to fall flat in the first place. The matches are very short, edited in a horrid way and commentated on like they don't even matter. The film goes out of its way to make everything perfect in a frustratingly bad way. The protagonist's father manages to pick up his sons first round match on an old, black and white TV in a tree house  I doubt if I could pick up a first round match between two unseeded players on my freeview digital TV box and I doubt John McEnroe of all people would be commentating on it. What's more, the continuity completely goes to pot at various times; the fact Peter (Bettany) actually skips a round en route during his Wimbledon run is shocking enough but would a Wimbledon semi-final really be played on court number 2? It's things like this that make me wonder if it was done deliberately or not in order to suspend reality. A Brit other than Tim Henman or Andrew Murray doing well at Wimbledon? Really!? Twinned with this, the matches in most of the rounds are so short; you need not show them. You only catch a glimpse of one shot in his opening match. All this build up and then one shot  a backhand winner in the first set, wow; that's exciting. If they'd had the characters talk, read and hear about Peter's matches instead of showing them to us, maybe it would've worked better and the final would've seemed more epic  "Ok, a Tennis match and it's the final: here we go."
Although Wimbledon isn't a bad film; you get the feeling it's not really trying to be a good one. The love story is sweet and there are lots to get a hardcore Tennis fan excited but it lets itself down with nasty, fake CGI Tennis matches consisting of one or two shots and that bouncy, sarcastic, 'all is not lost' aura that it carries, especially towards the end.