Review – Battle of the Sexes

Here’s how you know you have a great sports movie on your hands: When the movie is based on a true event yet during the climactic game or match, there a people in the theater clapping, almost as if they’ve never heard of this event ever in their life.  This is the case for Battle of the Sexes, a soaring, crowd-pleasing true story that is far more than just a run-of-the-mill sports flick.

Battle of the Sexes takes place in 1973 and focuses on tennis star Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and her epic match against chauvinist and degenerate gambler Bobby Riggs (Steve Carrell).

Directors Jonathon Dayton and Valerie Ferris have made a sports movie where the sport is the second story.  This is more than just about the legendary match, it is a true character piece about King and Riggs.  It is a movie that shows how both of them were living double lives; their life in the spotlight and the life the public didn’t see.  King is the best tennis player in the world and the leader of a women’s movement in professional tennis, while also having great relationship with her husband, Larry (Austin Stowell).  But behind the scenes, she is going through a sexual reawakening when she begins to fall for a hairdresser named Marilyn (Andres Riseborough), which was frowned upon at that time, and she feels the pressures of this forbidden love while also trying to maintain her number one ranking and leading the march for women’s tennis.  Riggs is a compulsive gambler and one who talks as much game as anyone.  He’s brash, cocky, and sexist, doing absurd things to degrade his opponents, particularly the female gender.  But Riggs is a lonely man.  He is a has-been who always needs to be in the spotlight.  His family comes second to him and it is shown through the relationship with his son.  But what’s most interesting about Riggs is that through all of his sexist escapades, he is actually being held together by his wife Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue).  She holds down the house, the kids, the finances, and turns Riggs from a cocky playboy to a vulnerable man-child.  It is stellar writing and directing to show these two superstars at their best and at their most private.

This is also one of the most relevant movies of the year, yet takes place in 1970’s.  King is fighting for women’s equality in tennis, wanting the same wage as the men for their tournaments.  When the women get denied this right, they start their own women’s league and start from the bottom up to become a successful tennis association.  They are constantly insulted and ridiculed, yet continue to fight for what they believe in.  It is the King versus Riggs match that acts as the metaphor for equality and it is a battle that only has one rooting side.  This reminds us that even still, forty years after this legendary match, we still have equality issues in America today, which almost makes this inspiring movie slightly depressing.

Emma Stone gives a career best performance here as Billie Jean King, and this is coming from someone who adored her Oscar winning performance in last year’s La La Land.  Never before has Stone disappeared into a role like this.  She physically and emotionally becomes King.  She is unrecognizable with the dark hair, huge glasses, and adding some muscle mass and really conveying how great of an athlete King really is.  She portrays both sides of King perfectly, but it is when King is in her private life that Stone really shines, switching from the intense, hard working tennis icon to a woman who has no idea how to handle her new feelings.  Look for another Oscar nomination for Miss Stone.

Carrell is equally as good as Riggs and continues to prove his legitimacy as a dramatic actor.  He does get to flash some of his comedic side as he shows the playboy Riggs as a ridiculous scumbag who will gamble on just about anything.  But like Stone, Carrell shines when Riggs is out of the spotlight.  Carrell shows us a weak man who lives a constant facade.  The best scenes are when Riggs and his wife Priscilla (a wonderful Elisabeth Shue) are having conversations about the family and their relationship.  Carrell makes us empathize, and even sympathize a little, with Riggs in these moments, making him a well rounded, interesting character.

Battle of the Sexes is a soaring, moving, socially relevant crowd-pleaser that gives us great sports action coupled with a beautiful character piece.  Led by two all-star performances, this is one of the best movies of 2017.

Did you see Battle of the Sexes?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.