Critics say ‘Battle of the Sexes’ serves up winning performances
In Battle of the Sexes, in Boston theaters Friday, Acton native Steve Carell plays Bobby Riggs, a retired Wimbledon champion who challenges then-29-year-old Billie Jean King (portrayed by Emma Stone) to a match. His goal: to prove that, at 55 years old, he can beat a woman at the top of her game. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris of Little Miss Sunshine (2006) fame, the film allows audiences a glimpse into the lives of the people on both sides of the net leading up to the 1973 showdown. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers praised Carell and Stone for their nuanced performances.
“Stone, fresh from her ‘La La Land’ Best Actress Oscar win, delivers another funny, touching and vital performance sure to put her back in the awards race. More crucially, she lets us into King’s secret heart, revealing the strain of showing strength while enduring private agony. … As Riggs, Carell turns a clownish fame whore into a complicated character.”The Los Angeles Times‘s Kenneth Turan felt Battle of the Sexes is most “involving” when it focuses on the players’ personal struggles, and gives large credit to the film’s directors.
“‘Battle’ is directed with a sure hand by the skilled team of Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, masters of well-made storytelling for adults whose work includes the breakout hit ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and the under-seen ‘Ruby Sparks.’ Faris and Dayton’s genial expertise is always welcome but especially here, and not only because the outcome of that tennis match is hardly going to keep audiences on the edge of their seats.”Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post pointed out the job well done by supporting actors.
“[Dayton and Faris] brilliantly lean in to the titular battle as a camp event, casting an ensemble of gifted comic actors in supporting turns that crackle with winking good fun: Alan Cumming, Chris Parnell and Fred Armisen are all on hand in small but crucial roles, but Sarah Silverman is particularly delicious as Gladys Heldman, the spiky, chain-smoking publicist for King’s newly established Women’s Tennis Association.”Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press asked, “Can an inspirational movie also be a drag?”
“As well-intentioned as it is, this background is all very thinly drawn and suspiciously Hollywood-ized. ‘Battle of the Sexes’ revels in the ‘can you believe men said/did/thought this’ factor at the expense of much of the storytelling and character development. It’s not that that’s not effective…there’s just a nagging sense that it could have been better. In the end there’s a lot to balk at and quote, but not a lot of illumination.”In a review for the New York Daily News, Stephen Whitty writes that “nobody leaves this film a loser.”
“Sometimes Dayton and Faris seem to think they’re making ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ again, cramming the film with oddballs. Occasionally the script takes lazy shortcuts (King’s husband wasn’t just a good-natured hunk, but a real force behind that first Virginia Slims tour.)But then the film remembers its main characters, and their clear conflict. And just when you’ve gotten lulled by some calm, easy volleys, it hits another beautiful overhead smash.”Watch the trailer for Battle of the Sexes:
