Wimbledon (2004)
I remember when this first movie came out I didn’t want to see it. The reason for this was that I was still in my tennis-playing time and I had had enough on the court, didn’t want it in my entertainment. Hence I saw it much later, and that’s probably why I loved it so much more.
Peter Colt (Paul Bettany), a once highly ranked tennis player is now at place 119, and barely in to the championship at Wimbledon. He’s lost his ambition and announced that this competition, however it turns out, will be his last game ever. On his first day, however, he accidentally meets and falls in love with Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), a new American up-and-comer, and suddenly his game takes a radical turn for the better.
Just as the summary suggests, this is a romantic comedy. It’s a shamelessly lovey-dovey aww-inducing hour and a half and I love it. What can I really say about it? Yea, it follows the generic cookie-cutter of the romantic comedy: they meet, they fall in love, they run into trouble, part, and then end up together at the end. How life should be but never is, obviously. This is a pretty typical rom-com and no matter what I say about it it won’t be anything else. But I will say that it’s definitely one of the better of its genre out there.
First and foremost it has Paul Bettany in it. Paul freaking Bettany, people. I’m sure that won’t mean much to a lot of people, heck, I’m actually thinking most of you will have to look him up because his name will be familiar but you won’t be able to place him. It really saddens me, because he’s an incredible actor and he has so few good films to his name. Damn typecasting. Anyway, it has Paul Bettany, and I tend to judge a lot of films by the actors in them. He’s one of the few people, in my opinion, who can make any bad movie remotely watchable. Few actors have this ability, but he’s one of the best. And considering some of the other stuff he’s been in (Legion, anyone?) he does very well.
Peter is a very sympathetic character. He’s a tennis player who is past his prime and he knows it. He doesn’t even want to be in Wimbledon. To be honest, I felt really sorry for him for the majority of the film, especially when he won his matches. That sounds weird, right? But think about it… he’s someone who is retiring no matter what the outcome of his matches. He doesn’t play badly on purpose, no, but he doesn’t aim to win either. All he wants is for it all to end so that he can go home and leave the court forever. But the further he goes in the more pressure is put on him to do well, and to stay in the sport and to continue winning.
Lizzie is also a rather likable character. She’s young, this is her first Wimbledon match and it means the world to her. When she meets Peter she tells him exactly how she wants the relationship to go, she doesn’t tease him by offering something she can’t deliver later. She’s more surprised than anyone when she starts falling for the guy. I can relate to her in the way that when you least expect it you find your person, and that person could be standing in the way of something you want, or they could be a potential distraction for you, and no matter what you do you still love them. Course, I’m a total hopeless romantic so I was on Peter’s side the entire time but you can’t judge me on that. Much.
The story, too, is an amusing one. Obviously the core of it is the Wimbledon championship, and that is never far from the minds or dialogue of the characters, but the stories surrounding that main plotline are interesting and fun to follow as well. Peter’s family is brilliantly dysfunctional; from his father who moves into the treehouse in the garden to get away from his wife, to Peter’s younger brother who tries and fails to become a champion cyclist and bets against Peter in every match he ever plays.
All in all it’s a very feel-good movie. It’s also one of my favourite movies in the way that the characters say their “I love you”s. Most movies have this predictable “I love you” “I love you too” sequence but they do it cleverly and very sweetly here. Let’s just say I squeal into my pillow pretty much every time. A solid 7/10 and one of my favourite romantic movies of all time. Honestly I recommend this one to girls only. Guys will die of boredom most likely. Unless they’re tennis fans, in which case they’ll spend the movie watching the plays and commenting on them. Or if you convince them to watch it with you by bribing them with something, then they can focus on the bribe.
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