Borg McEnroe review:

The beauty of Tennis, which is rooted in its unpredictable and demanding nature, this biographical sports thriller recreates the epic ‘fire and ice’ battle between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final and the events that led to that iconic clash.

Tennis is a duel often misunderstood as sport, and John McEnroe is one of its most misunderstood soldiers. In 1980, the 20-year-old American was considered one of the game’s most promising players, someone who could dethrone reigning champion Bjorn Borg. Their journeys to the top couldn’t have been more different, but they’d converge at the Championships at Wimbledon, when the two knew, even before a single ball had been tossed, that they would meet in the final. As far as rivalries go, a Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t have written a more dramatic one.

Filmmaker Janus Metz Pedersen spends a leisurely 20 minutes in a 107-minute film on the Wimbledon match, crafting the sequence in a turbulent and thrilling fashion. There’s a lot at stake for the two men, and Pedersen makes that fairly evident. Gudnason as Borg aptly and impressively plays a volcano always on the verge of eruption but never does, even on the big day. The only moment you see him crack is in a shower scene, where he is mildly sobbing, allowing himself the luxury of emotions. Borg McEnroe is clearly more invested in him, as evident in the film’s Swedish title – Borg. But despite that LaBeouf manages to match up as the capricious McEnroe.

Tennis is a misunderstood sport because tennis is a lonely sport. Most people don’t realise that. For hours, you have no one but yourself to deal with on court. Your opponent is usually a blur across the net, occasionally emitting noises, but rarely registering more than that. When a serve misses the box, or a shot lands outside the lines, you have no one to blame but yourself. Victories are fleeting, often forgotten moments later, but every tiny loss weighs like an inescapable reminder of your talentless existence. Every point is an overwhelming explosion of fear, anger, nervousness and elation. And then it happens again, and again, and again; a masochistic ritual that ends not when one man wins, but when the other simply cannot bear it any longer. What’s worse? The only person who gets what you’re going through is the person you have to defeat.

Keeping the physical similarities aside, Swedish actor Sverrir Gudnason deserves a standing ovation for making us (the generation that grew up on Nadal-Federer rivalry) witness the brilliance of Bjorn Borg and what made him one of the greatest male Tennis players of the open era. He makes you forget that he is an actor and not the Swedish legend. Shia LaBeouf stuns you with his performance as well. Their command over the game is simply commendable.

In quintessential Tennis lingo, Janus Metz’s biopic is a nerve-racking five-setter that leaves you gasping for breath. Like a classic centre court final, this tense and thrilling sports drama heads to a nail-biting climax, thus evoking unprecedented attention throughout. Borg’s motto – ‘One point at a time’ is also perhaps the most significant life lesson that one can take home from this stunning masterpiece that studies two men, who played to win.

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