Tennisproffset Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) has lost his sting. This worries his trainer Tashi (Zendaya), who is also his wife. What’s worse, the wife seems to find him less attractive when he plays poorly. She enters Art into a tournament where the opponent turns out to be Patrick (Josh O’Connor), who is Art’s former best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend. Through time jumps and flashbacks, you understand that there is a lot at stake when the match begins.
Tennis is a sport that many intellectuals have devoted time to. The American writer David Foster Wallace (1962-2008) describes it as the world’s most beautiful, but also the most demanding. “Challengers” take note of this. It shows the intensity of the sport and the physical performance it requires. In fact, the film is physical in every possible way: the camera drools over glossy, naked bodies and zooms in on drops of sweat falling from the skin. Even the clothes (designed by fashion designer JW Anderson) accentuate muscular arms, tight butts and visible bulges. It all oozes sex. But is it sexy? Well.
Most striking there are sparks between the two male leads. Glances, lopsided smiles, legs being crossed. Perhaps it is not strange. With films such as “A bigger splash” (2015), “Call me by your name” (2017) and “Bones and all” (2022), director Luca Guadagnino has made himself known for complex emotions and unconventional expressions of love. He likes to plant at least one “shocking” sexual scene per film. In “Call me by your name” it involved a peach. Here it is a spectacular kiss between three people.
But “Challengers” is too thin to leave a lasting impression. The slow motion scenes too frequent, the time jumps too many. Unfortunately, a too long match on TV is as boring as a too long match on film – no matter how sweaty and semi-sexy it is.
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