Fearless Writer ... Reviews

Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany, Sam Neill, John McEnroe
Director: Richard Loncraine

Ever since playing sport became a profession, debate has raged whether or not sex detracts from an athlete’s performance. Does it hamper or improve their concentration? Does it tire them out physically or help them relax? There is no definitive answer to this question and lightweight rom-com Wimbledon doesn’t even come close to providing one.

English tennis player Peter Colt (Bettany) is moving into the twilight of his career. Once ranked as high as 11th in the world, he is now in his early 30s and languishing in 119th spot. He scores a wild card entry into Wimbledon and decides that, win or lose, he is going to retire.

In the first of many improbable plot developments, Colt accidentally lets himself into the wrong hotel room, walking in on the game’s up and coming female star, Lizzie Bradbury (Dunst). From what should be a mortifying situation, the pair strike up a relationship that Lizzie’s father (Neill) strongly opposes. The affair actually helps Peter’s game, but Lizzie is knocked out of the comp – and she blames her lover, who decided to visit her for some nocturnal shenanigans. Will they get back together? And will Peter win Wimbledon? Gee, let me think…

Had its themes been explored more thoroughly, Wimbledon could have been a strong example of the genre, on par with Love Actually. Instead, it was taken straight out of a ‘please everyone’ rom-com recipe book and makes for a bland meal indeed.

The casting doesn’t help either – Bettany is at least kinda believable as a professional athlete, but trying to pass off the knock-kneed Kirsten Dunst as an attractive version of Lindsay Davenport is a real double-fault. Toss in some painfully threadbare lines (“Peter Peter Colt”) and you have a celluloid code violation. A couple of amusing quips and some good acting make it tolerable, but if Wimbledon was a tennis match it wouldn’t be played on centre court.
VERDICT: 2.5/5 stars

ON THE DVD
WELCOME TO THE CLUB Begins with a monumentally stupid comment from Dunst, then shows (in three minutes) how the real grounds and crowds at Wimbledon were used for the movie.

BALL CONTROL Explains that while the actors were trained to look like professional tennis players, most of the balls you see on screen were added in post-production. Loncraine describes this process as “Very boring and time consuming.”

COACH A RISING STAR Failing to reach even the three-minute mark, this shows us how former Aussie tennis star Pat Cash trained the actors and arranged some of the tennis choreography.

WIMBLEDON: A LOOK INSIDE Making-of documentary explains, among other things, how some of the real tennis stars, such as John McEnroe, were enlisted. The only featurette to beat the ten-minute mark.

COMMENTARY Far and away the best bonus, with Loncraine and Bettany providing an honest and gap-free talk about the ups and downs of the shoot.