Challengers

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://movieswetextedabout.com/challengers-movie-review-luca-guadagnino-goes-deep-beyond-the-baseline/ "Challengers transcends the limits of its tennis-centric premise to delve deep into the complexities of human relationships and personal desires. Luca Guadagnino’s meticulous filmmaking and metaphoric storytelling, coupled with the stellar, fervorous performances of Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Mike Faist, propel viewers into a world where the lines between love and competition blur with tantalizing intensity, sexual tension, and an electrifying score. With its potent blend of passion, intimacy, narrative and character depth, the film never stops reminding us that the most captivating stories lie beyond the boundaries of the tennis court." Rating: A-

A lot of fun, is 'Challengers'. First of all, I gotta say, the proper poster is so good! Thankfully, the movie matches. I enjoyed my time watching this one, I do have some (very) minor issues with the pacing and music (that blaring club track is a bit much) but in truth they evaporate given how high quality the rest of the film is. The cast are great. Zendaya is the obvious star of the 131 minutes, she is top notch throughout. Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist are just as impressive though, they more than hold their own alongside Zendaya. I've seen O’Connor before in TV's 'The Crown' so I'm not all that surprised or anything, though this is the first time I've see Faist act. Aside from the earlier noted track, the music is overall excellent though. I also like how the tennis is portrayed, I'm only a casual viewer of the sport but it all felt believable in that regard. I think the run time could've been trimmed a tad, while the amount of different timelines is perhaps a little excessive. Again, mind, these are not major concerns of mine, just worthy of noting. A terrific flick, no doubt!

Tennis playing "Art" (Mike Faist) and "Patrick" (Josh C'Connor) have been best mates since school but there's a fly in the ointment of their bromance. That's the upcoming superstar that is "Tashi" (Zendaya) - whom both of the boys take a shine to. A shared beer in their hotel room and she declares she's no home wrecker - but as this story progresses we arrive at a scenario that sees her own career aspirations tragically thwarted and rather vicariously transferred onto now husband "Art" whilst her ex-boyfriend "Patrick" and he now barely speak. Having won six slams, "Art" is running out of steam - but his unfulfilled wife is not ready for him to quit. Can he win an elusive US Open? For that matter, can he even win a confidence-building Challenger event in which he must beat his former friend. It's this match that serves as the conduit for the story as we dance about the timelines delivering a story that I felt was rife with pretty toxic ambition. Zendaya handles her really ambiguous, sometimes quite cruel and selfish, role here real quite unnervingly well as Luca Guadagnino allows all three actors to develop characteristics that vary from the engaging to the detestable - and he lets us be the judge. They are all flawed individuals spurned on by hormones, desire and the highly charged and competitive nature of their touring existences makes for quite a compelling look at just what makes these guys tick! After his appearance in "Mothering Sunday" (2021) O'Connor has no issues getting naked, the others prove a little more restrained as the sexual chemistry becomes more palpable and destructive and by the denouement - well who knows what will happen? I like that uncertainty - and I know what I wanted to occur... If you can't like yourself, can anyone else?

While I have found Zendaya to be an attractive and stylish young woman, I haven't really warmed up to her as a serious actress all that much. She was fine in the "Spider-Man" franchise since it didn't require any great stretches for her. I feel that in the "Dune" series she is overshadowed by other, more talented actors. And in the more serious "Malcolm and Marie" she was in over her head in the cheap imitation of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" "Challengers" is a big step for her as an actress. And while I do still feel as though her two co-stars were more convincing, I think that this part is a brave move into meatier and more challenging roles. The film is told over a thirteen year period. Zendaya plays Tashi a rising star in the tennis world. She seems to be the next great thing. At one of the tournaments she meets Art and Patrick, played by Mike Faist and Josh O'Connor. They are also competitive tennis players and best friends. And they both fall for Tashi. Who wouldn't? Over the next several years they each start a relationship with Tashi. Not surprisingly they grow apart, but their stories continue to intersect as they both move closer to an inevitable confrontation...both off and on the court. It's the kind of movie that Hollywood rarely makes anymore. It's about people and their feelings, and their ambitions. It's not a sequel or a remake, or comic book. This is why I find stories about real human emotions to be so much more exciting than the latest, generic action retread. The plot is advanced by the things the characters say and how their emotions guide their futures. The film offers ambiguous motivations. On the surface we see them caring for each other, but what lies deep beneath is a much more selfish reality that put them in a survival mode. Each of them is a well written being. There is no hero to the story...nor a villain. While Zendaya holds her own, Faist and O'Connor are the best part. They move the story and are also the central interest to me. This is, after all a love story, but we don't really understand early that it is also an unconventional one between the two male characters as well. All three of them hold a certain amount of sexual tension between them. If I was to have a small gripe, it would be that the last twenty minutes is stretched too long. I'm glad that the filmmakers didn't rush it like many films do, but...they do milk the final in too many slow motion and trick shots. It adds tension, but it gets close to making us lose a bit of interest as well. Just get on with it!

A story about a sociopathic, egocentric, racist narcissist who - not knowing what love is - treats two young men who both fall in love with her as pawns in a twisted game of life. The havoc she wreaks, and the lives she break, are of no concern to her, as she continues on and on trying to satisfy her quench for power, control, and admiration. It's not that I necessarily have a problem with films spun around an antagonist, or with demonic female characters, there's just something about the way it is on display in this film that makes me nauseous and tired. Perhaps it's the poor writing, or the lack of any real protagonist, as the two who are supposedly our protagonists are really willing victims, so it's hard to feel for them. Maybe it's the disorganized structure of the script. And pairing it with an atrocius score certainly doesn't help. Oh, and the supposed "tennis" they're playing is so far detached from actual tennis that you can't help but laugh out loud at times when the film is trying to be very dramatic. Quite unfortunate. I do think the three main actors do a good job, and I'll gladly watch them in something else in the future. Especially our antagonist (assuming she has other facial expressions than sulking) and the dark-haired protagonist.