'Challengers' review: Menage a tennis
Director Luca Gudagnino is no stranger to sexual tension in his movies. From the forbidden love in “Call Me By Your Name” to the misplaced amorous grudges in “A Bigger Splash,” his cinematic eye for matters of the heart and other areas of the human body is laser sharp and his latest endeavor is no different.
That film is “Challengers” and while the thought of a torrid love triangle set against the world of competitive tennis may seem remote at first glance, the finished product is more sensational and rocket-fueled than anything else having to do with the sport. In other words, this movie is a huge crowd-pleaser that just happens to be set against a professional backdrop and if it can convert a non-sports fan like me, it should have no problem grabbing your attention as well.
Like most things in “Challengers,” its beginning is strong and unconventional as we meet best friends Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor), inseparable and fiercely competitive on the tennis court. There are hints that their passion extends outside professional matches but the two students are still too young and inexperienced to even know if those feelings are genuine, let alone act on them. It will take a chance encounter with tennis prodigy Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) to test those waters and the result is fascinating and hilarious all at once.
Between the film jumping back and forth in time we learn that while Patrick was the first one to make a move with the precocious Tashi, it was Art who ended up marrying her and banishing his best friend in the process. Hearts are broken and unfinished business is left in the wind as the story flip flops between their past lives at school and the present day, where Art is on a professional losing streak and Patrick is playing any second-tier match he can get. Tashi is the woman in the middle, raising a daughter with Art but never fully forgetting about the other missing piece in this curious love triangle.
Justin Kuritzkes’ screenplay takes what would normally make for a soapy and uninteresting tale between two men falling for the same woman and injects it with the same ferocity of a tennis ball smashing back and forth against a court. In fact, Guadagnino takes things a step further by placing his camera in the heart of the action during climactic matches, literally placing you in the POV of a moving tennis ball. It’s an energized storytelling angle and the electric score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross mostly succeeds in keeping up the pace. Sometimes its bouncy rhythms are overwhelming and repetitive but that’s a small nitpick in a fun and flashy tale. “Challengers” is simply one of the best movies of this young year and further proof that Guadagnino is one of our best working directors.
Rating: A-
“Challengers” is now playing in theaters nationwide.
Photos courtesy of Amazon MGM.
