 Movie
Reviews
with Evelyn Gough
Wimbledon
Directed by Richard Loncraine
 American tennis champ Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) gets cosy with British tennis player Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) in the romantic comedy Wimbledon.
I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of sport's films but director Richard Loncraine has completely won me over with this romantic comedy set amongst the grassy courts of Wimbledon.
Aptly titled Wimbledon (surprise, surprise!) it stars in centre court the very talented and under utilised Paul Bettany as professional tennis player Peter Colt. Once ranked 11th in the world, he's slipped to a disappointing 119th and is set to retire and take up a pro job at a club. This all changes when a wildcard draw gives him one more shot at winning Wimbledon.
Soon things are heating up and not just on the courts. Peter's scoring big time in the bedroom department as well, getting all hot and sweaty with American tennis cutie Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst). This doesn't exactly thrill Lizzie's manager dad (Sam Neill) who is afraid his daughter will be distracted and unable to focus fully on her game.
But Peter's on a winning streak and he attributes this to his new love Lizzie. She's his lucky charm and he's not prepared to give her up without a fight...
Like I said, I'm not usually all that fond of films which revolve around sporting themes but this is the rare exception. Wimbledon is the perfect combination of feel-good romance and nail-biting edge-of-your-seat tennis action. It's also very funny and all the lovey-dovey gooey stuff works a treat thanks to the very believable chemistry between its two stars.
(And thank goodness Hugh Grant was dropped for being too old).
The rest of the cast are also great and if you're a fan of quality British cinema you'll recognise a lot of familiar faces.
Especially notable are Eleanor Bron and Bernard Hill as Peter's mother and father, and John Favreau as his opportunistic agent. For a touch of authenticity John McEnroe and Chris Evert appear as commentators.
There's nothing like plenty of ball-play to make a fantastic romantic comedy. This film's a definite winner!
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