Tennis lovers of 'Challengers' stick to the surface
Amazon MGM
I love tennis, and I love inquiries into relationships and compatibility and choices. And perhaps “Challengers” would have delivered on its fantastically sweaty setup if not for its stunning disinterest in actually exploring the nature of anything that happens on the court or off it.
Thirteen years ago, Art (Mike Faist) and Patrick (Josh O’Connor) are 18-year-old up-and-comers who, like the Taylor Fritzes and Francis Tiafoes and Tommy Pauls of the world, have been playing together for years and, in Art and Patrick’s case, have become inseparable close friends. At least, that’s how it looks on the outside, and the guys’ surprising openness to pursuing the same girl, even more promising player Tashi (Zendaya), suggests either an enlightened level of acceptance for the balls to land where they may or the seeds of a hidden resentment that then will play out over the next decade-plus.
Yep, it’s the latter.
Except first-time feature writer Justin Kuritzkes and director Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name,” “Bones and All”) think that chopping up the chronology and overcompensating with a thumping score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“The Social Network”) will create the drama and complexity that the interpersonal dynamics and so-called athletic rivalry never does. The tennis scenes often take a bizarre, horizontal position that negates each player’s strengths, as if Guadagnino doesn’t think the sport generates excitement without over-stylized filmmaking and continuous shots of feet sliding into position. There’s little sense of each player’s talent and potential, and when it’s determined that over the years Art has become a multiple Grand Slam winner with endorsements and enormous fame to boot, neither his playing nor his lack of star-making personality (he makes the somewhat controversially low-key Mike Trout look Mahomesian) convince that this is the most decorated American male tennis player since the days of Sampras and Agassi. And the portrait of Patrick as broke and sleazy demands for a presentation that feels nuanced instead of like a point on a spectrum.
Worse, the attempted love triangle isn’t a delicate intertwining of desire and commitment, or an update on the well-worn lust vs. security question, or even an intelligent recognition of the emotional and mental playmaking that drives success or regret in multiple areas of life and competition. It’s more like an alternate but muddled version of the “Almost Famous” triangle where you’re not rooting for any of the relationships. (Obviously, in this scenario the persistently loving Art is William.)
Initially depicted as skilled and primed for big things, Tashi later becomes a ball being tossed back and forth between the male characters. Kuritzkes’ script — which needs more characters moving in and out over this much time — provides little indication as to how the past is informing the present (numerous incidents fail to elevate the stakes or deepen the feelings) or to what degree we should see Tashi as a muse vs. a person with agency who is also unable to resist the lure of success. There’s something interesting here about the respect that’s essential to relationships and what happens when professional setbacks expand beyond the work and into a partnership.
But “Challengers” is all buildup and no release, posing hypotheticals and cheering for matches that never feel finished. Setting aside the Woody Allen of it, and both films’ overdone tennis metaphors, “Match Point” fared better in turning up the temperature on forbidden relationships and the smallest bounces that lead to the biggest results. “Challengers” shows that people might play a certain way for reasons that change day to day, and that the strongest players are those who can remain unaffected by anything other than what’s in front of them.
This unexpectedly underwhelming effort, conversely, loses because it sparks little feeling, and can’t help but seem like late-career Art: basic, tired, and unsure what he really has to offer.
C
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