I really enjoyed this film. I wish there were more movies about tennis
Wimbledon
2004
Action / Comedy / Romance / Sport
Wimbledon
2004
Action / Comedy / Romance / Sport
Plot summary
Peter Colt, an English tennis player in his thirties whose ranking slipped from 11th to 119th in the world, considers he never really had to fight for anything as his wealthy but all but close family easily put him through studies and allowed him to pursue his tennis ambitions, bravely exchanges jokes with his German sparring partner Dieter Prohl, in a similar position, but feels it's about time to admit he's getting too old to compete with fitter coming men (or boys) and intends, after a last Wimbledon, to take a job with the prestigious tennis club instead. Just then, by accident, he bumps into Lizzie Bradbury, the American rising star of female tennis, falls in love with her and finds her interest in him changes his entire perception, even gives him the strength to win again. But where will it lead them, especially when her overprotective father-manager Dennis Bradbury proves determined to nip their relationship in the bud, believing it detrimental to her career?
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Sam Neill as Dennis Bradbury
Kirsten Dunst as Lizzie Bradbury
James McAvoy as Carl Colt
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Dieter Prohl
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Tennis
Reviewed by
The downslope of his career
Wimbledon is the story of a pair of tennis players, 119th ranked Paul Bettany who is on the down slope of his career and young and up and coming Kirsten Dunst. Sounds like the recipe for a tennis version of A Star Is Born, but it doesn't quite work out that way.
Bettany has seen his better days and is picked as a wild card seed for the Wimbledon tournament the goal of every British player. The younger and faster and stronger players are getting all the media attention, players like young Ms. Dunst over in the United Kingdom with her father Sam Neill keeping a watchful eye.
Like Norman and Esther these two mismatched players fall in love, but this Norman Maine does not fall into dissipation. With her encouragement he forces a second wind for his career and finds himself miracle of miracles in the finals.
You say these things don't happen in real life, but every now and then they do as Ron Howard's Cinderella Man attests, the real life story of Jim Braddock. In tennis I remember a much past the prime Jimmy Connors winning that last major tournament before packing it in.
Audiences love a comeback story and Dunst and Bettany are an appealing pair.
Reviewed by
barely passable rom-com
Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) is an aging English tennis player. His ranking has slipped from 11th to 119th in the world. He is considering what to do next after this final Wimbledon. Then he encounters Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) when he enters the wrong hotel room. She's a rising American tennis star. Sam Neill plays her controlling father Dennis.
For a sports movie, it just doesn't have the energy. The action isn't that compelling. It's just isn't shot well.
Peter is a tired character, and it infects the movie especially early on. And his nagging narrations do not energize it in the least. Kirsten Dunst is doing her flirty best. The chemistry between the leads isn't all there. As a rom-com, it's barely passable.