Borg/McEnroe
(Sweden/Denmark/Finland, 100 min.)
Dir. Janus
Metz, Writ. Ronnie Sandahl
Starring : Shia LaBeouf, Sverrir Gudnason, Stellan
Skarsgård
Programme: Galas (World Premiere – Opening Night)
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| Courtesy of TIFF |
Shia LaBeouf fires a mean backhand as John McEnroe in Borg/McEnroe. With his curly hair and
rebellious star persona, he's surprisingly well cast as the bad boy tennis star
who faced off against beloved reigning world champion Bjorn Borg (Sverrir
Gudnason) at Wimbledon’s 1980 Championship game. Labeouf also shares a facet of
McEnroe's character that really adds to the dynamic of this engaging and
compelling tennis drama: no matter how hard he tries or how much he proves
himself, he's not an easy guy to like.
Yes, Cinemablographer punching bag Shia LaBeef just can’t get a break and that’s what makes Borg/McEnroe so watchable. One creates love/late relationships with stars and celebrities based on how one perceives them. In my mind, LaBeef is a hack actor who uses his reluctant stardom for shameless self-promotion. He keeps beating this dead horse with gimmicks like wearing a paper bag over his head, crying and playing Marina Abramovic, and insisting that he isn’t famous anymore while dappling in increasingly more challenging art films. He’s as annoying as Justin Bieber and just can't change my opinion of him..
But the LaBeef or Biebs of the day, at least when it comes
to sports, was bad boy McEnroe. The actor inhabits his character with vivid
restlessness, assuming a rugged charm as McEnroe riles up the competition with
his bad boy antics and notorious temper tantrums on the court. McEnroe’s desire for adoration resonates strongly with
LaBeouf’s tenuous relationship with stardom.
He finds a worthy rival in Gudnason, who’s relatively
unknown on this side of the pond despite success in his native Sweden, as the respectable
and respected Borg. While LaBeouf’s McEnroe is purposefully annoying, Gudnason’s
Borg is a class act. The OCD Borg strives for perfection to fanatical degrees
and is a strong foil for McEnroe on every level as he offers a star that fans
adore and the establishment loves.
Director Janus Metz lets the action fly as the drama lobs
from back and forth across the court in this battle of icons. While it’s not
one of the flashier films to open TIFF in recent years, Borg/McEnroe improves upon recent openers like The Judge or The Magnificent
Seven by kicking off the fest with an engaging tale of rivals in which one
sees both sides. (I also really like watching the film as a metaphor for the
ongoing match between TIFF and Telluride, but that’s another article.) Paced briskly by editors Per Sandholt and Per
K. Kirkegaard, Borg/McEnroe moves
swiftly and suspensefully through the Wimbledon games and develops the
backstories of both players as it builds to the inevitable grudge match. Even if
one knows the outcome, Borg/McEnroe
is riveting drama.
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TIFF runs Sept. 7-17. Visit TIFF.net for more info on this year’s festival.
