challengers
Studio:
Directed by: Luca Guadagnino
April 22, 2024
Web Exclusive
There is a scene in Noah Baumbach The Calamari and the Whale where Jesse Eisenberg's character Walt is invited to a school meeting along with his writer-parents Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney. A chip off the old square, so to speak, Walt's paper The Great Gatsby he is “very bright” as his father points out, to which the teacher replies, “Yes, but I'm not sure he's read it.” It's perhaps the most appropriate way to describe the tennis in Luca Guadagmnino's stylish new film challengers, in which Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist play rival tennis players competing for the heart of protege Zendaya's partner. Has the respected director ever watched a tennis match? Who's to say?
Guadagnino is thankfully more adept at presenting an incestuous love triangle between his three leads that spans a dozen or so years. Just young enough to bust out like wide-eyed eighteen-year-olds, O'Connor is Patrick Zweig, a talent with enough swagger and swagger to challenge Nick Kyrgios, with Faist as the more industrious Art Donaldson. Both pale in comparison, however, to the enigmatic promise of Zendaya's Tashi Duncan, who seems destined for greatness until her career is cut short by injury. However, these events do not unfold linearly.
Instead, the film cuts back and forth like a good rally as the dynamics of the throuple are gradually revealed. Interspersed are some fun, often heavy-handed nods to a more fluid modern sexuality. Patrick and Art's relationship lacks the explicit chemistry of Elio and Oliver in Guantanamo Call me by your name, but the director still examines how wealthy (or talented) young boys and girls thrive in spaces seemingly protected from “corrupting” outside influences. Here, nearly forty years later, attitudes are different, and yet Tashi and the boys still seem stunted in their personal growth, this time by a relentless desire to beat the best and become the best. Both O'Connor and Faist appear to have called, with a flicker I will (;) chemistry. Zendaya is better suited as an all-American campus ice queen than later as Donaldson's frustrated wife/coach. All three have a palpable chemistry together, enhanced by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor's pulsating score.
However, Guadagnino seems quick to leave that world behind. There is no BTS intrigue with overbearing coaches or parents, without intervening sponsors. The love triangle – a surprisingly conventional one after all – is often played for cheap laughs that feel ready for social media. No doubt the Warner Bros. marketing team will have a full arsenal of content ready to subvert the film's rather bland, queer dynamic.
There's also a lot more tennis than you might expect. The film's choppy timeline never really wraps up, but its anchor point throughout is a climactic showdown between Patrick and Art, who come face-to-face for the first time at the end of their careers. Having squandered his potential, a dejected Patrick sees his old friend and rival in the finals of a challenger tournament that Art has also entered to prepare for his final shot at the US Open and a potential Grand Slam career. conclusion. It represents a crossroads, with Art considering retirement after a poor run of form, while Patrick wants to have one last shot at success – both romantically and professionally.
However, Guadagnino proves unable to capture the sport's truly exciting moments – deft volleys, down-the-line winners, rising aces – instead using an increasingly exhausting mix of sweaty slow-motion and pounding dance music to extend the rallying sequences that they fall looser and looser. During this final showdown, the restless timeline jumps one last time to the stormy night before—perhaps the WB Twisters was it being filmed on the next set? – where Patrick and Tassie's nighttime meeting fuels the tension of this final showdown. But honestly, the less said about the film's final scenes, the better. What Guadagnino serves up before is much more entertaining.
In honor of, challengers represents a delightful and original departure from the cult of professional sports' biggest names that prevails in many of the standard sports docs and biographies that currently fill streamers. Our three fictional tennis players provide a welcome break from platitudes and PG-rated inspirational quotes. He may even prove worthy of his devotion as perhaps one of the greats bad movies of 21St Century. The Zendaya starrer should ensure a potentially healthy performance at the box office on what is reported to be a relatively modest budget. And a vehicle for the rapid rise of Feistnsdsdaafasdf and O'Connor should be welcome. But ultimately, his success may lie in his own hands Mailbox users, stan accounts and camera enthusiasts. Hit and miss at the best of times.
Author Rating: 4/10
from our partners at http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/challengers