THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES review


THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES

starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell

directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris

A review of Helen J. Reynolds

Based loosely on the lives of tennis players Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell), focusing on their famous match pitting men against women.

This is an enjoyable film that has a lot of relevance to the current social and political climate. An almost incredible event: a then 55 year-old retired athlete believed he would easily be able to beat a 29 year old, world number one champion - simply because he was a man and she a woman. It's an idea that nowadays no-one who knows anything about sport would think let alone set a $100,000 bet on.

The circus surrounding Bobby and his exaggerated rhetoric reflects the political culture we're currently experiencing. Billie even said herself that she didn't take him seriously; rather, it's the followers of the Bobby-esque cult that were the real worry. While Bobby may be shown as a clown looking for attention, and not really looking for the expulsion of women from sports, the actions of someone like Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) were the real concern.


Equal pay. The right to love who you love. Being given respect. These are sadly ideals that have still not made it into law throughout the world some forty plus years on from when Billie proved she could take the pressure and beat a man at his own game. 

There are plenty of great performance. Andrea Riseborough captivates as the secret lover. Sarah Silverman plays the all-women's manager, "Is it that I'm a Jew or a woman that annoys you?"  - this, to the delightfully detestable Bill Pullman. Of course, it's the leads that are the draw and both Emma Stone and Steve Carell make for easy viewing. It isn't difficult to invest in both characters, who are certainly not perfect and add shades of grey into a story that at first seems a night and day divide.

The beginning is perhaps unnecessarily long in build-up - the all-important match is tacked on the end and brushed over quickly. However, the characters are all well-drawn and while the story might be based on events in the 70s, it isn't far away from rhetoric still rife in society and politics of today.

A combination of:
When Billie Beat Bobby (2001)
Carol (2015)
Suffragette (2015)
 

 

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