Wimbledon

Wimbledon - **1/2 (5.5/10)

From Richard Loncraine, Wimbledon is a romantic comedy set in the world of tennis; more specifically within the sport's biggest tournament. Some sports romantic comedies (this one included) are hard not to like. They often combine female savvy romance storylines with guy pleasing sports elements effectively enough that they're able to attract a large date audience (a la The Replacements, Bull Durham). They also seem to emphasize sports slightly more than romance, so this movie represents a different perspective of the genre. Indeed, there are a lot of things that work about this movie. I like the performances; Paul Bettany is always good and Kirsten Dunst has always had a lot of charm. The directorial work is interesting too; some of the in-game shots are fantastic, and the "My So Called Life"-esque freeze-frame technique works beautifully. This is, however, a case of style over substance, and where you could pull that off with a big budget and a science fiction theme, it's still just a tennis movie. There were more than a few a-typical romance one liners, and plenty of expected and tired plot twists. Unfortunately for Bettany and Dunst, charm just isn't enough. Thumbs down.