Fix: Tennis, Legitimate Love Triangle, SO MUCH SWEAT
Platforms: Prime Video
Prime Video Summary:
To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, a tennis player turned coach makes her world-famous, grand slam champion husband play a “Challenger” event against his former best friend…who also happens to be her former boyfriend.
FYA Summary:
If you pay even a sliver of attention to pop culture (which, given how you’re reading this, is safe to assume that you do), you’re probably already aware of this movie and/or have watched it. But my Stream It coinciding with Wimbledon gives me a perfect excuse to channel Tashi Duncan: I want to watch some good fucking tennis.
Superstar tennis champion Art Donaldson is in a slump. To help him regain his confidence, his wife/coach Tashi Duncan — a former player herself — signs him up for Phil’s Tire Town Challenger in New Rochelle, NY. It should be an easy-peasy tournament, except for a down-on-his-luck player named Patrick Zweig… who was once Art’s best friend and Tashi’s boyfriend.
Familiar Faces:
Mike Faist as Art Donaldson, Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, and Josh O’Connor as Patrick Zweig
Even though this is less of an Either/Or love triangle and more of a Why Not Both?*, I’m predisposed to favour Art, even if he’s kind of a pushover. Such is the power of Mike Faist, who was the only thing I remember from (and have been a fan of since) the TV adaptation of Panic. (I still haven’t seen West Side Story, but singing and dancing just makes him even more my shizz.)
* Basically, the “I want two boyfriends, and I want the boyfriends to be boyfriends” meme.
Zendaya is, of course, ZENDAYA. And Tashi Duncan is just as iconic as her portrayer at every stage we meet her: a magnetic teenager, a badass woman, and an all-around mastermind. As single-minded as Tashi is about tennis, her verbal volleys are just as good as the ones on the court.
Look, Patrick was always going to be at a disadvantage, on account of me only knowing Josh O’Connor as Prince Charles from The Crown. (Although obnoxious characters might be his specialty, as his roles in Emma. and The Durrells seem to indicate.) Also not helping Patrick’s cause: he’s a smarmy trust fund kid cosplaying as a hobosexual.
Couch-Sharing Capability: Quiet on the Court
Just like watching tennis itself, this movie isn’t conducive to conversations while play is in progress. Sport-wise, you actually don’t need to know anything to follow the plot, and being a ball-knower won’t ruin your enjoyment, either. The action scenes are generally good replicates of the real deal, although it might hurt your brain to wonder how Art stacks up against the Big Four.
Recommended Level of Inebriation: Minimal
Not only is this an actual good movie, but the non-linear narrative and audiovisual experience does require full attention. This is not the pick for distracted viewing, as evident by how I failed to second screen rewatch while writing this post.
Use of Your Streaming Subscription: ‘Tis the (Grass Court**) Season
New Rochelle’s hottest tennis club has everything: propulsive music, tension on and off the court, and ample perspiration. Perfect summertime viewing!
** All the matches in the movie are actually on hard court, but I’m obviously choosing cutesy over accuracy.
I still haven’t watched this yet!! 😳But good to know it’s a summery vibe so maybe I should finally get on that in the next few months!
YAY, love to be in my influencer era 😂
Knowing tennis rules can also mean at the end you’re wondering about the serve clock instead of, you know, plot. Not that that happened to me or anything…
Lololol RELATABLE. And also wondering how the ending would even get scored 😂 like HELLO, this was a tie break!