Wimbledon - Amor en juego

This movie was better of what I expected, it was interesting and entertaining.

I had seen Paul Bettany in " Gangster No. 1 (2000)" and I was surprised that he could do a romantic comedy so well too, he had a good chemistry with the beautiful Kirsten Dunst who is always good in this kind of movies. The plot is interesting and I liked a lot the tennis games scenes. What I didn't like so much were some silly moments involving Peter Colt's brother and manager.

Peter Colt is playing his last tournament at Wimbledon and there he will meet Lizzie a young tennis player with a great future with whom he will begin a romance behind her father's back ..........

I recommend watching it if you like romantic comedy movies.

The sport of tennis serves (no pun intended) as a good background in Strangers on a Train and Pat and Mike. As the focal point of a full feature, it has never produced a solid film. Instead, there would be the occasional lightweight drama like Players (Dean Paul Martin and Ali McGraw) which fizzled back in 1980. Wimbledon, while a marked improvement over the former, does nothing to change the status quo.

Primarily a star vehicle for Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman, Bring It On) and rising star Paul Bettany (Master and Commander, A Beautiful Mind), the storyline is the stereotypic budding romance between Dunst who is the up and coming tennis star, and Bettany, the aging midline star who is trying for one last shot at being champion at Wimbledon. Their romance blossoms much to the consternation of Dunst's father (Sam Neill) who fears distractions for his daughter. There are a few subplots involving Bettany's quarreling parents, his playing partner, and his opportunistic agent (Jon Favreau). It's not too hard to figure who might win/lose or where the romance will lead.

Stars Dunst and Bettany are likable and have a nice chemistry but not much script to work with. There are a few nice lines and situations piecemealed throughout, but the plot is paper thin and the dialogue is unimaginative. This was from the people who brought us Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral? Ah, look at the credits more closely and Richard Curtis is missing; not even a Hugh Grant cameo is in sight. Sam Neill, Bernard Hill, and Eleanor Bron (Remember her from the original Bedazzled?) are wasted in minor roles. The tennis scenes are somewhat fun with the stars putting their all in the physical matches, but the tennis balls are almost too perfect as the special effects become too obvious.

Bettany is destined for more substantial roles and Dunst won't be hurt by this lightweight comedy/drama. One could only imagine what they could have done with a more lively script and complex characters. Sure it's nice to look at and the stars are a cute couple, but this was a squandered opportunity.

This film is about a failing professional tennis player recapturing his glory through an unlikely romance.

Though I do not normally care for tennis, I am captivated by "Wimbledon" The plot is predictable and formulaic, but still it does not stop me from enjoying it. Both Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst are brilliant and adorable, and have great chemistry together. They are so sweet, and makes a perfect couple! The tennis sequences are exciting, and I particularly like the shots where they simulate the view from the tennis ball, being shot to the ground then back up.

So, there is finally a date movie that both boys and girls will enjoy. Romance for the girls and tennis for the guys. It's a great combination. I enjoyed "Wimbledon" a lot.

...comes another romantic comedy, almost exactly like it! Having picked up on the blatant similarities between Paul Bettany and Hugh Grant as foppish, witty Englishmen in Wimbledon, it came as no surprise to me to learn that Hugh Grant had originally been considered for the lead role of Peter Colt. If you have ever seen a film starring Hugh Grant as the lead, you know now what Wimbledon is essentially like and how it is acted because Paul Bettany's tennis-playing character Peter is exactly like a Hugh Grant character--confused, witty and extremely English. While Bettany does not quite have the the charming part down to perfection yet, he is much more attractive than the king of romantic comedies. He is also strangely compatible with Kirsten Dunst and that makes it a nice romance story.

While centering the plot around tennis (Wimbledon, in fact) is fairly uncommon, this is only a disguise for a genuinely ordinary and well-milked premise. Man is out of touch and out of luck and meets a wild, free girl who will help him awake from his sedated mental state and make him feel alive again. Conflicts inevitably rise, because the man and girl are two players in Wimbledon and so there is more at stake than just a love affair; they are both competing to win. In the end, this film is really quite cute and often at least a little funny but believe me when I say it's nothing you haven't seen before. I mostly enjoyed it because of Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau, to be honest.

It's a romantic comedy. Let's face it: it's not going to be winning any Oscars. For its genre though, it was a very enjoyable movie and even a step up since the romance was often, in a way, the B storyline. A fairly unique premise and excellent work from Paul Bettany as usual. Bernard Hill, James McAvoy, Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau and Jon Favreau gave memorable performances also, but Kirsten Dunst left a little something wanting.

The camera work and narration was different and very interesting. I also liked that the "roles" were reversed and it was told more from Peter's point of view

9/10.