A tennis movie that scores really high.
“Challengers” is a tennis movie that works on a level that reaches higher than usual. Maybe it’s because the film is directed by Luca Guadagnino who has proven himself to be one of the most original Italian filmmakers with instant classics like “Call Me By Your Name.” Or maybe the writer Justin Kuritzkes (who will also pen the director’s next movie “Queer”) is is a name a majority of us hasn’t heard of, but are amazed at his risk-taking abilities. Or maybe the film casts three young actors Zendaya, Josh O’Connor (“The Crown”), and Mike Faist (“West Side Story”) in performances you need to see to believe.
I think it could be all of the above. Or maybe I’m underselling the movie a bit. I hope I’m not, because “Challengers” is smart, sexy, and suave. And this is all coming out of a tennis movie, so we shouldn’t underestimate it. It’s a movie of the genre told in a different aspect.
Zendaya stars as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis pro, who had a bad accident that reduced to her becoming a coach, relying on her husband Art Donaldson’s (Faist) championship. He’s on a losing streak, but she urges him to get back on the courts for a comeback. When he tells her he loves her, she responds: “I know.” Now, you know that’s not a good sign, especially when this has to do with money, fame, and reputations.
His opponent happens to be his former best friend and her former lover Patrick Zweig (O’Connor), who resorts to sleeping in a parking lot when he can’t find a hotel, and eating half of an official’s Dunkin’ Donuts bagel when he’s hungry. I can assume this guy is looking for a comeback, too, especially when he can’t bribe someone with an autographed racquet.
We also get a series of flashbacks of how Art and Patrick’s friendship fell apart, as well as Tashi’s career holding the racquet, which she blames on Patrick. And in the present days, we see her dominating Art, insulting his weak personality, and telling him that if he doesn’t win the tournament, she’ll leave him. And we also see her telling Patrick off and having a tense connection. The kind in which the camera knows when to move and capture their conflicts.
And it’s not just those scenes, but we also get an entertaining look at the tennis matches. Sometimes the camera looks like it’s from the perspective of the ball, other times it moves fast, and all times the pacing is ready to swing the racquet. Guadganino’s collaborator Sayombhu Mukdeeprom photographs the movie with the right intensity.
“Challengers” is one of Guadagnino’s most entertaining films because of how it breaks free from the traditional tennis movie and pushes itself to new limits. Those limits regard the triangle between Zendaya, O’Connor, and Faist, and how circumstances have destroyed their connection through the years. And I like the ways the movies jumps back and forth and informs the audience of how many years ago a specific scene took place. It’s a nice way to avoid confusion, and we don’t always have to have them in black and white like “Oppenheimer” did.
Even though I didn’t understand everything, I could read this movie enough to acknowledge the personality traits of the characters. We can see what the sport can place in the characters, about winning and losing, but in different senses, and they’re all written with complexity by Kuritzkes. I’m telling you readers: don’t avoid or overlook “Challengers,” because it is sharp entertainment that smells and feels like a new tennis ball.
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