So few sports movies are either a critical or commercial success, it is surprising so many are made. I suppose it is because they provide an easy framework for a dramatic story arc, but most of the time you are better off watching live sport. Just this year, we have two tennis films, Battle of the Sexes and Borg vs McEnroe. More of the latter later, but first, a few recommendations. For this column I am not including documentaries.
Starting with tennis, the cupboard is pretty bare, if you don’t include Strangers on a Train. However, Hard, Fast and Beautiful, from 1951, is worth a watch. Boxing seems to fare best, with Raging Bull an obvious pick, and most peoples’ choice as the best ever sports film. So I will recommend a clutch of others. It is easy to forget, with the increasingly preposterous sequels, how good the original Rocky was, as was the recent Creed. Of an older vintage, Humphrey Bogart’s last film, The Harder They Fall, is truly excellent, The Square Ring an underseen British gem, and The Laurel & Hardy short, Any Old Port, is one of their best.
Baseball is the other sport that tends to produce well respected films. The whole mystical element of the sport goes over my head, so whilst I can appreciate films like Field of Dreams; my favourites are the irreverent Major League, the beautifully written Moneybags, and one of Clint Eastwood’s lesser known films, Trouble with the Curve.
My favourite sports are not very well represented. Fever Pitch and Wondrous Oblivion (until the story of 2003 county championship is filmed) are the best football and cricket films respectively, though they are only tangentially about their sports. For golf, Tin Cup is a rare example of a good straight sports film, though I also have to mention Caddyshack too. With respect to Breaking Away, I would pick The Program for cycling and the underrated The Games, as well as the obvious Chariots of Fire, for athletics.
Additionally it is worth mentioning Slap Shot (ice hockey), Invictus (Rugby Union), This Sporting Life (Rugby League), Hoosiers (basketball), Rush and Grand Prix (motor racing), The Rainbow Jacket (horse racing), and the original Mean Machine and Draft Day (American Football).
As for Borg vs McEnroe, it feels like it is destined to sit amongst the ranks of mediocre sporting films. It is set during the 1980 Wimbledon tournament, as Borg tries to win his fifth successive title. In fact, the film focuses mostly on the Swede. We see his crisis of confidence as he struggles through the early rounds and many flashbacks to his childhood as a hot-headed up-and-coming player.
McEnroe is much more crudely drawn, and we learn little about him over and above his bad behaviour on court. Shia LeBoeuf does not feel right as the American, though Sverrir Gudnason benefits from a remarkable physical resemblance to Borg and mention should be given to Tom Datnow for perfecting Jimmy Connors’ walk.
Whilst it is impossible not to make the final showdown between the two dramatic, most of the film falls a little flat, using commentators to explain what is happening on court far too much – the explanation of a tie break is particularly jarring – and Borg’s mental struggles become a bit trying after a while.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10