Screenplay Written by Simon Beaufoy
Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton
** (two stars)
RATED PG 13
While I have never existed as anything resembling a sports fan what soever throughout my life, I certainly will always pay my respects to those figures who elevated and transcended the games in which they were associated, for their skill, determination, physicality and athleticism all congealed into the artistic.
Even as a small child in the 1970's, I was more than aware of individuals who accomplished athletic feats that were seemingly impossible, therefore changing the games as they had once been known. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Walter Payton, Olympian Nadia Comaneci and of course, the Greatest Of All Time, Muhammad Ali dominated not only their respective sports but all corners of American culture as well. Even in my very young life, with a then extremely limited world view, combined with that aforementioned non-interest in sports, not acknowledging those sports figures and others was an impossibility to be certain.
And without question, tennis legend Billie Jean King was one of those crucial figures who transcended the sport and pushed the world forwards.
Because of who she is and what she did indeed achieve during the 1970's and throughout the remainder of her life thus far, Billie Jean King demands a film that is the equal of who she is and what she endured and overcame. Unfortunately, "Battle Of The Sexes," from the directing team of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton is not that film.
Now, let me preface by explaining to you that what Faris and Dayton delivered is not a bad film in the least. It is just not an inspiring one or even one that is terribly interesting or involving, quite the surprise given the subject matter and provocative elements inherent within the material itself. In fact, it often elicited yawns. Decidedly not for the story of the life being told but for the dryly and dangerously pedestrian way in which the story was presented.
Framed directly with the backdrop of the 1970's sexual revolution and the rise of the Women's Liberation movement, "Battle Of The Sexes" stars Emma Stone as the inimitable Billie Jean King, who at the start of the film has become the Women's Tennis World Champion but soon becomes embroiled in a grander fight for equal pay when she angrily discovers that male tennis players will be competing for a cash prize that is eight times larger than the prize the women will be competing for.
When United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) big-wig Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) refuses to make the cash prizes equal for both the male and female players, King, alongside her business partner Gladys Heldman (a strong Sarah Silverman), set out to formulate a rival Women's Tennis Association league, augmented with the self-created Virginia Slims tour, a package wooing the finest female athletes to their new corporation, although King would have to endure a drastic pay cut in the process.
Meanwhile, 55 year old male tennis pro Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) is finding himself at his own personal crossroads. His tennis career essentially finished, he is biding his time in an emasculated existence, toiling away in a meaningless office job and essentially living off of, and gambling away, the fortunes of his wealthy and domineering wife Priscilla Wheelan (Elizabeth Shue...sigh).
Riggs, clearly filled with equal parts bluster and boredom, challenges the ever rising star of 29 year old King to a gender themed tennis match, playing up the titular battle of the sexes. Although at first she refuses, Riggs' defeat of Australian tennis champion Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee), raises King's ire and soon, the match is a go, becoming a cultural, socio-political and media sensation, a tennis match eventually viewed by an estimated 90 million people around the world.
Yet, for both Riggs, and especially for Billie Jean King, the real battles are occurring off of the tennis courts, as King, married to World Team Tennis co-founder and attorney Larry King (Austin Stowell), is privately yet turbulently wrestling with questions concerning her sexual identity as she finds herself attracted to and beginning an affair with hairdresser Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough).
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton's "Battle Of The Sexes" is a more than well intentioned, workmanlike sports docudrama that simultaneously evokes the tenor, tonality and look of the early
1970's with skillful craftsmanship, as well as devises a narrative that also showcases just how far we have and have not progressed in almost 45 years regarding women 's rights, equal pay between men and women and most certainly, the nature of closeted and open homosexuality and lesbianism for public figures, regardless of any increased prevalence within the media in the 21st century.
In fact, it would not be remotely far-fetched to make the connections between the film's pubic competition between a blowhard, self-described chauvinistic media hog against a woman determined to break the glass ceiling within the sports industry against a viciously fought Presidential election in 2016. Perhaps, that was indeed the intent of this film in the first place, even though it was filmed before the election came to pass entirely.
Even so, having a dramatized document showcasing how the trials and tribulations of the Women's Liberation movement did indeed produce a victory to serve as a source of solace and inspiration during a time when that very same movement faced a crushing failure, is a terrific conceit to augment the story of Billie Jean King. But unfortunately I felt that "The Battle Of The Sexes" fell dramatically flat and more surprising to me was how uninspiring the film actually was...and those feelings had nothing to do with knowing the outcome even before entering the theater.
For those of you who have seen Director Michael Showalter's "The Big Sick" this year, just think of how aching, riveting, unpredictable, romantic, comedic, dramatic and supremely heartfelt that film was even already knowing that the real life participants in that film's love story are indeed married and even co-wrote the screenplay. The magic of that film was all in the storytelling.
By comparison, what Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton created with "Battle Of The Sexes" was essentially a meticulously designed period piece, filled end-to end with the finest production design, excellent sun baked cinematography by Linus Sandgren to the AM Gold styled soundtrack sprinkled throughout (Elton John's "Rocket Man" was a nice touch..but honestly, where was John's "Philadelphia Freedom," written specifically for Billie Jean King?), but with all of the tension, drama, urgency and thus, the palpable inspiration drained from the proceedings.
One major misstep, as far as I was concerned was the actual climactic tennis match sequence between King and Riggs. Certainly I do not think that Emma Stone and Steve Carell would have had to become tennis champions in order to portray their roles but I definitely would have found the film more convincing if the film stars were more overtly prevalent in the athletic sequences. The way Faris and Dayton have chosen to film the major tennis match is to have most of the action viewed from a distance, one would think because that way, editing would be drastically reduced and we could more easily follow the ball, so to speak. That being said, at such a distance, it is easy to deduce that we are not even watching Stone or Carell at all but more than likely their stunt doubles, with only cut away close ups of the film's stars scattered throughout. This approach did not to involve me in the match itself but to distance me from it because I was unable to "buy the fantasy" of what I was being presented on the silver screen.
Another significant problem with the film, unfortunately, is Ms. Emma Stone. Don't get me wrong. I have been enamored with the talents of Ms. Stone ever since her debut in Director Greg Mottola and Producer Judd Apatow's raunchy teen comedy "Superbad" (2007). Yet, as of late, she seems to have found herself in somewhat of a creative rut, much like Anne Hathaway, another young, exceedingly talented actress who has become a little more than self-aware in her choices and performances overall.
Yes, Emma Stone delivers a good performance and I do believe that her scenes with Andrea Riseborough are among the film's best, most sparkling work. Yet, for all of her obvious skill, which is on display throughout the film, I guess I felt that I was watching Emma Stone playing Billie Jean King, instead of watching her become Billie Jean King. There was nothing lived in about Stone's performance and it just left me wanting because a shag haircut and round glasses are just not enough to emulate a full, three dimensional picture of a life. By this stage of her career, Emma Stone really needs to dig a bit deeper and not simply coast upon her powerful magnetism. I know she has another great performance within her but her portrayal of Billie Jean King was just not one of them.
Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton's "Battle Of The Sexes" was as dry as the desert, utilizing none of the innovation found in their previous film, the beautifully dark literary fantasy love story "Ruby Sparks" (2012) and taking what could have been truly exciting and invigorating filmmaking and storytelling some and turning Billie Jean King's historic tale and victory into a sadly pedestrian, completely inoffensive, straight up the middle of the mass audience PG 13 road.
"Battle Of The Sexes" was banal, often a tad boring and frankly, it felt like a TV Movie Of The Week from the 1970's rather than a film about the 1970's in 2017. But then again, there was much of television during the 1970's that was more daring and groundbreaking than any one moment in this movie and therefore, the life of Billie Jean King. Truly unthinkable to me considering we have a story and film that contains themes of sexism, feminism, athleticism, competition, a sexual identity crisis and awakening, scenes from two marriages, a budding love story and gambling addiction and even so, the effect was as regarding sun saturated wallpaper for two hours.
Billie Jean King deserves so much better.
No comments:
Post a Comment