The supposed gentleman's game, tennis is full of volcanic characters. Competitive singles is an exasperating exercise in strategic warfare: the closest one gets to physical chess. With very little distinguishing the top players in athletic ability, it all comes down cerebral strategy.Perhaps the ultimate clash of mental racket gods, the 1980 Wimbledon final, is finally depicted in film. Icebergian cool, super Swede Bjorn Borg clashes with the hot-headed, foul-mouthed American brat John McEnroe, in a gruellingly inhumane best of five sets match, on slippery grass, in front of British royalty drowning their strawberries and cream, with sugary tea.Sports movies are always an iffy proposition, but Borg vs. McEnroe gets it right. Not only is Sverrir Gudnason a dead ringer for Borg, he totally nails his obsessive mannerisms, and most importantly, brings the mystery man to life. Irrational nutbar actor Shia LaBeouf as the irrational nutbar tennis star John McEnroe, is the obvious lure here, but instead the focus is mainly on the secretive, misunderstood Borg. It's a relief to see excellent action sequences not marred by dodgy stand ins, and awkward editing. Also: retro short shorts and white tennis balls. This is a great tennis movie, and a pretty good movie movie.

Borg vs McEnroe presents a powerful and well-made portrait of two tennis rivals under immense psychological stress. Despite this, it may fail to stick in the minds of non-tennis enthusiasts. Borg vs McEnroe is like many sports movies in that it focuses on the mindset of the individual players to heighten the drama. However, it is unique in its presentation of the contrast between Borg and McEnroe; two brilliant rivals who experience excruciating inner and outer pressure, but who deal with it in different ways. The film manages to convey near-complete psychological portraits of the two tennis stars through a combination of flashbacks, character interactions, and scenes on the court. The film succeeds due to its skillful cinematography and powerful performances from Sverrir Gudnason (Borg) and Shia LaBeouf (McEnroe). Borg vs McEnroe feels comfortable using unique shots and cuts to portray a certain emotion or action sequence, but it doesn't overuse any techniques so as to distract from the reality of the events. Thus, the use of dramatic cinematic embellishments rarely feels overly theatrical or out of place. The second main strength of the movie is the two performances from Gudnason and LaBeouf. The actors accent the emotional torment that the tennis figures faced, and without such strong performances the movie wouldn't have been worth the watch. The real value of Borg vs McEnroe is the questions it raises about success and perceptions of success, and it highlights the fact that the media's portrayal of athletes rarely tells the whole story. But the movie is clearly building towards the great match between Borg and McEnroe, and so that promise must be fulfilled. The final tennis scene is done effectively, but it is not strong enough to bring the whole movie to a close. For those who are unaware of how the match turned out, the third act will be riveting. For those who know the end result, they may feel that it drags out a little longer than necessary. One choice by the filmmakers that undermines the final scene was their obvious bias towards Borg by focusing on his flashbacks and emotions over those of McEnroe. Ultimately, the movie's strengths overshadow its weaker points; Borg vs McEnroe is a solid biographical sports film, even if it can't quite mix sports thrills with an in-depth character analysis.

I liked how the movie brought me back to those days when tennis players were like superstars (although you would not know it if you watch the last aierport scene where Bjorn and John have a lWhat I did not like is how the movie overkills the contrast between them and yet, it is contradictory in that the "calm/predictable/shy" Bjorn fires his coach without thinking it over much and is ready to leave his fiance as well ... which makes him as volatile as McEnroe supposedly is... Meanwhile there is no tennis analysis whatsoever. I loved how John had the best hands in tennis and how graceful and talented he was at the net ... Sverri Gudnason plays and moves a little bit like Bjorn, Shia LaBeouf is a DISASTER as John McEnroe: his movements are totally non-tennis and totally wrong!!! The movie shows them as if this is the first time they play one another when it really was the SEVENTH time they played one another. This is just on of many liberties they take to tell the story they want to tell: the Ying/Yang that movies require in order for those watching to get the point... Too many flashbacks: the whole movie seemed like a long string of Bjorg remembering hitting against a wall and John getting rejected by his parents!!!

I lived through this period, and this film artfully captures the emotions of the time. It focuses on the build up to the 1980's match and turns out an art film that is the Rocky of tennis.