{"id":28452,"date":"2024-04-24T21:44:59","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T04:44:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=28452"},"modified":"2024-04-24T21:44:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T04:44:59","slug":"challengers-scores-some-points-but-has-a-few-faults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=28452","title":{"rendered":"CHALLENGERS Scores Some Points, But Has a Few Faults"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 131 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This feature from Amazon MGM Studios will open\nexclusively in theaters on Friday, April 26th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sports movies are very common, but while some might think\nthat a romance set in the world of athletes might be more unusual, there have\nbeen numerous titles mixing these elements. Films like Bull Durham, The\nCutting Edge, Tin Cup, Fever Pitch<\/em> (both the UK and US versions) and Wimbledon<\/em>\nare only a few of the dozens of pictures in recent years. The new film Challengers<\/em>\nalso falls into this category, but is an extremely eccentric take on the\nsubgenre. In fact, this tale of love set around the professional tennis circuit\noften feels so overdone that it almost veers into pure parody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story cuts between various time periods, showing the\nstruggles of three individuals who began their careers at the same time.\nPatrick Zweig (Josh O\u2019Connor) is a player with raw talent and charisma who\nnever reached his full potential. Zweig\u2019s schoolmate Art Donaldson (Mike Faist)\nis a pro who has enjoyed success as one of the world\u2019s best players, but is\ncurrently on a lengthy losing streak. When Donaldson\u2019s wife and coach Tashi\nDuncan (Zendaya) suggests her spouse play a smaller tournament against less-experienced\ncompetition to regain his confidence, he agrees. Unfortunately, neither expect\nto encounter Zweig on the court. As their personal history together is\nrevealed, it becomes clear that all have been playing emotionally manipulative\ngames on and off the court and are bringing plenty of baggage with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The filmmaker doesn\u2019t go out of his way to make the flawed,\nobsessed characters likable or relatable. Admittedly, it\u2019s amusing early on to\nwatch Zweig try to charm his way through some difficult spots with no cash or\nsupport to compete. However, more emphasis ends up being placed on the\ninterpersonal dynamics between the three leads. Zweig and Donaldson are equally\nconsumed by Duncan and playing their own match to win her from each other.\nDuncan seems aware of this and, at certain points in the story, even plays them\nagainst each other. It results in some unique conflict as each figure goes to\nextreme lengths to try and win over Duncan, even when their relationship seems\n(at certain points) to be less-than-healthy. Witnessing just how far each will\ngo to outdo each other and win does add a level of grim amusement to the\nproceedings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But the film\u2019s eventual emphasis is more on sex than sport.\nIn fact, it is almost campy in the way that it deals with the love story. Some\nof the revelations about the characters are far-fetched. Later, when two of the\nleads get together physically after a long absence, they do so outside while\nhigh winds blow around them (which seems like a really poor idea given the\ndebris flying around). During tennis matches, there are dozens of slow-motion\nshots of the players running across the court, dripping sweat and flexing their\nmuscles. Essentially, the film implies that watching a hard-fought battle on\nthe court can be, well, more than just a little arousing (at least, it is for\none viewer). While this is all amusing to watch, it\u2019s so aggrandized that any\nauthentic drama or tension is lost.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another distraction comes when the film interrupts\nconversations between the leads with its score. A thumping beat builds during a\ncouple of instances, so much so that it ultimately drowns out the dialogue.\nIt\u2019s an odd technique and has perhaps been used to create a sense of excitement\nbetween those involved in the discussions. Unfortunately, the approach takes\nthe viewer completely out of the story and distracts considerably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the end, this tennis picture has some entertaining\nobservations about players and the troubles they face over their careers. It is\nalso likely having some fun with genre tropes by playing them out in the most\ninflated manner possible. But the lack of subtlety, the odd experiments and\nbehavior of the main characters struggle to engage in a significant manner.\nEvery now and then Challengers<\/em> scores points, but there are also several\nwild shots that result in a fault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 131 minutes This feature from Amazon MGM Studios will open exclusively in theaters on Friday, April 26th. Sports movies are very common, but while some might think that a romance set in the world of athletes might be more unusual, there have been numerous titles mixing these elements. Films like Bull Durham, The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":28457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[215,1180,3801,4089,4090,4091,4092,6251,11059,13932,17310,18895,19715,19716,23150,24759],"class_list":["post-28452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-215","tag-amazon-mgm-studios","tag-camp","tag-challengers","tag-challengers-film-review","tag-challengers-movie-review","tag-challengers-review","tag-drama","tag-josh-oconnor","tag-mike-faist","tag-romance","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-tennis-court","tag-tournament","tag-zendaya"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28452\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}