BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

mjdk2 IMO the last few years have been quite dull as far as movies are concerned, everything that comes out of Hollywood is just plain bad.That's probably why most people including myself are so enamored with Netflix, it gives us the option to pick and choose films from other places rather than the ubiquitous junk from the West Coast. My only place that I still catch main stream movies these days is when I fly commercially, and so I was lucky enough to catch this little gem.The name gives away the whole plot, but essentially it centers around the rivalry between Tennis Legend Bjørn Borg and Tennis Loudmouth John McEnroe during the Wimbledon finals of 1980. The movie is in many ways very similar to Rush, which portrayed the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda just a few years earlier.Both Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf do an excellent job in portraying their respective characters, when I look at Sverrir Gudnason it's almost like stepping back in time and looking at Bjørn Borg and Shia LaBeouf is just as unlikable as the real McEnroe.Overall it was a very enjoyable movie and I would recommend it to anybody interested in Tennis.

hannahgrahambell Borg vs McEnroe presents a powerful and well-made portrait of two tennis rivals under immense psychological stress. Despite this, it may fail to stick in the minds of non-tennis enthusiasts. Borg vs McEnroe is like many sports movies in that it focuses on the mindset of the individual players to heighten the drama. However, it is unique in its presentation of the contrast between Borg and McEnroe; two brilliant rivals who experience excruciating inner and outer pressure, but who deal with it in different ways. The film manages to convey near-complete psychological portraits of the two tennis stars through a combination of flashbacks, character interactions, and scenes on the court. The film succeeds due to its skillful cinematography and powerful performances from Sverrir Gudnason (Borg) and Shia LaBeouf (McEnroe). Borg vs McEnroe feels comfortable using unique shots and cuts to portray a certain emotion or action sequence, but it doesn't overuse any techniques so as to distract from the reality of the events. Thus, the use of dramatic cinematic embellishments rarely feels overly theatrical or out of place. The second main strength of the movie is the two performances from Gudnason and LaBeouf. The actors accent the emotional torment that the tennis figures faced, and without such strong performances the movie wouldn't have been worth the watch. The real value of Borg vs McEnroe is the questions it raises about success and perceptions of success, and it highlights the fact that the media's portrayal of athletes rarely tells the whole story. But the movie is clearly building towards the great match between Borg and McEnroe, and so that promise must be fulfilled. The final tennis scene is done effectively, but it is not strong enough to bring the whole movie to a close. For those who are unaware of how the match turned out, the third act will be riveting. For those who know the end result, they may feel that it drags out a little longer than necessary. One choice by the filmmakers that undermines the final scene was their obvious bias towards Borg by focusing on his flashbacks and emotions over those of McEnroe. Ultimately, the movie's strengths overshadow its weaker points; Borg vs McEnroe is a solid biographical sports film, even if it can't quite mix sports thrills with an in-depth character analysis.

cdcrb Even if you know nothing at all about tennis or borg or McEnroe, you should enjoy this film about the background, work ethics and media blitz which occurred during their rivalry. shia lebeouf is quite good as the loud mouth McEnroe. that's actually a compliment.

thekingsdom I really enjoyed this. I thought both actors did a great job and both of them nailed their characters. The film lags a tad with the childhoods; however, overall it's just about the games and the tennis up to that epic final. And what a final! Thumbs up from me.