It’s one of the greatest matches the tennis world has ever seen, held appropriately in The Cathedral, where devotees of the sport come to worship. Bjorn Borg versus John McEnroe, the rebel versus the gentleman, in a championship that shook off the notion that tennis was purely for the civilized. For one weekend in July of 1980, the world was riveted as two titans played a match that decades later stands as a towering spectacle. The cinematic potential that leaps from the famed Wimbledon battle is so obvious, it’s a surprise it hasn’t been done before Janus Metz’s “Borg/McEnroe.” The film is an admirable effort to recapture the era in tennis and the personalities of two players that would change the shape of the sport. Unfortunately, the drama is never as electrifying as the titular showdown.
Coming into the tournament, Borg (a steely, understated Sverrir Gudnason) is the king of tennis. With four straight Wimbledon titles under his belt, he just needs one more to break the record. He’s the poster boy for the sport, and a role model for young players, but is also regarded as a ferociously cold-blooded machine on the court, with laser-like focus. However, for the player who once found the trappings of sports fame enjoyable, the spotlight has become a burden, and the always rising expectations to succeed — and increasing probability that he will eventually fail — nearly intolerable. By contrast, McEnroe (an enjoyably energetic Shia LaBeouf) is the hungry rising star, ready to take his spot at the height of the tennis world. Ranked second in the world behind behind Borg, he wants the same respect and admiration for his undeniable talent that his rival receives, but routinely works against his own interest with his abrasive behavior during matches, calling out bad decisions by line judges and chastising the crowd.
This background only adds to the perfect mix of ingredients that made for the historic match, but Metz’s film gets so lost in establishing the ferocity and stakes Borg and McEnroe brought to Wimbledon that summer, it never feels particularly in the moment until it’s too late. With the titular event serving as the obvious climax to the picture, the only question is how screenwriter Ronnie Sandahl is going to get there, and unfortunately, for a sporting event that’s still viewed with awe, the path there is dry and conventional. “Borg/McEnroe” leans hard on frequent flashbacks, which serve to draw the many parallels between the lives of Borg and McEnroe and their struggle to become the best players in the world, even as the media was eager to pit them as enemies from different sides of the track. The approach itself isn’t necessarily an issue, even if it’s fairly rote. The problem is that the past Borg and McEnroe share, at least in broad strokes, is fairly familiar for the sports movie genre: parental mistreatment and misunderstanding; an almost obsessive desire to compete; and learning to overcome doubts and lack of confidence to excel.
In any other film, these scenes might act as a steady narrative cantilever, but when the leads are as good as they are in “Borg/McEnroe,” these rote sequences draw attention away from the leads, whose performances are worthy of the titular attraction. Given the off-camera headlines he’s generated, LaBeouf is almost freakishly perfectly cast as McEnroe, capturing the player’s nervous energy and fiery temperament that’s always on the edge of exploding. And often does. It’s a showy role, but the actor knows just how far to take it, while marrying his light fuse McEnroe with a very real vulnerability. Gudnason is all inner stoicism playing Borg, an athlete whose drive is deeply fixed in everything he does, even if it’s in danger of leaving him entirely isolated. The duo are two sides of the same coin, and “Borg/McEnroe” is never more engaging than when LaBeouf and Gudnason are in the frame, but when it jumps away from them, the proceedings hit the net.
Metz does deliver when it counts, devoting most of the third act almost entirely to the Wimbledon finale. It’s terrifically shot, and even if you know the outcome, it’s substantially tense, building to the inevitable conclusion with each volley, serve, and smash. And while it might make you long for watching the original match in its entirety, credit to Metz that his recreation captures an intimacy of its subjects that is likely absent from the 1980 broadcast recording. However, it’s that closeness and vitality that’s absent in the first two-thirds of the film, which mythologizes Borg and McEnroe to the point of distancing them.
Just as many sports movies before have done, and many more will after, “Borg/McEnroe” shines a light on the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. It’s just a shame that the movie itself doesn’t have the same ambition. [B-]
Click here for our complete coverage of the 2017 Toronto Film Festival