Wimbledon (film)
| Wimbledon | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Loncraine |
| Produced by |
Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Liza Chasin Mary Richards |
| Written by |
Adam Brooks Jennifer Flackett Mark Levin |
| Starring |
Paul Bettany Kirsten Dunst Sam Neill Jon Favreau Austin Nichols |
| Music by | Edward Shearmur |
| Cinematography | Darius Khondji |
| Edited by | Humphrey Dixon |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Universal Pictures Dimension Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country |
United Kingdom France United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $31 million |
| Box office | $41,512,007 |
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt (played by Paul Bettany) and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury (played by Kirsten Dunst) during the Wimbledon Championships.
The film is dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after suffering cardiac arrest four months earlier.
Plot
Peter Colt (Paul Bettany), a British professional tennis player in his thirties whose ranking has slipped from 11th to 119th in the world, has never really had to fight for anything, as his wealthy family allowed him to easily pursue his tennis ambitions. Though he earns a wildcard spot to the Wimbledon tournament, he feels it's time to admit he's getting too old to compete with fitter up-and-coming men (or boys) and intends, after this last Wimbledon, to take a job with a prestigious tennis club.
However, as Wimbledon begins, he bumps into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), the American rising star of female tennis, falls in love with her and finds her interest in him changes his entire perception, even gives him the strength to win again. As their love grows, Peter's game becomes better and better. Lizzie's overprotective father-manager Dennis Bradbury (Sam Neill) is determined to nip their relationship in the bud, believing it detrimental to her career. One day, Dennis comes to Peter’s old flat and yells at him for spoiling his daughter's game. She overhears this and decides to leave him and focus on her game.
The night before their semi-final matches, Peter sneaks into Lizzie’s hotel room and persuades her to have sex. The next day, he performs quite well and wins in straight sets but Lizzie loses. Lizzie angrily breaks up with Peter, saying his selfishness made her lose, and decides to immediately return to the U.S. to train.
Peter has to play the final match against Jake Hammond (Austin Nichols), an arrogant American star, but finds himself outclassed. At the airport, Lizzie watches an interview on TV in which Peter apologizes and declares his love for her. She returns to Wimbledon.
As Lizzie reaches the stadium, Peter has lost two sets and is behind in the third. When the game is suspended due to rain, Lizzie appears in the dressing room and forgives him. She tells him the secret of Jake’s tricky serves and Peter recovers to win the title (3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(6), 6–4). He and Lizzie get married, and with his support, Lizzie goes on to win the U.S. Open and Wimbledon twice, ultimately achieving her dreams. In the last scene, Peter is with their youngest child, a boy, watching Lizzie and their eldest child, a girl, playing tennis together on a neighborhood court in New York City.
Cast
- Paul Bettany as Peter Colt
- Kirsten Dunst as Lizzie Bradbury
- James McAvoy as Carl Colt
- Bernard Hill as Edward Colt
- Eleanor Bron as Augusta Colt
- Celia Imrie as Mrs Kenwood
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Dieter Prohl
- Sam Neill as Dennis Bradbury
- Austin Nichols as Jake Hammond
- Kirsten Taylor Montjoy Hunter as Elizabeth Hammond
- Jon Favreau as Ron Roth
- Jonathan Timmins as the Ballboy
- Robert Lindsay as Ian Frazier
- Martin Wimbush as Court Official
- Cecilia Dazzi as Billi Clementi
- Real tennis professionals on set
- Dominic Inglot as Paul Bettany's tennis double
- Vikas Punna as Ajay Bhatt
- Beti Sekulovski as Lizzie's first opponent
- Murphy Jensen as Ivan Dragomir
- Alun Jones as Tom Cavendish
- Rebecca Dandeniya as Arliyia Rupesindhe
- John McEnroe as Himself/Commentator
- Chris Evert as Herself/Commentator
- Mary Carillo as Herself/Commentator
- John Barrett as Himself/Commentator
- Pat Cash was the tennis adviser on set and trained the actors.
Production
The actors served with real tennis balls. All others were added digitally to make it appear like they were serving.
The film used locally recruited Wimbledon residents as extras.
In the original script Lizzie steps nude out of the shower upon meeting Peter. Actress Kirsten Dunst filmed the initial meeting scene nude, but before the film's release she persuaded director Richard Loncraine to edit the scene so her nudity was removed. The result is a strange cut first showing Dunst behind the glass shower door, then suddenly cutting to a shoulders-up view of her standing outside the glass door.
Filming locations
Some scenes were filmed during the Championships in 2003 between matches. It is the only time in the history of the tournament that this has been allowed.
Some of the grass court scenes with Paul Bettany were filmed at the Stoke Park Country Club,[1] home of The Boodles Challenge.
The London Zoo's entrance was used for the entrance to Wimbledon.
The beachfront scenes were filmed on location in Brighton.
Reception
Wimbledon received generally positive reviews, with a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 144 reviews.[2] It received "average" of "mixed" reviews from Metacritic, which was a 59-point rating out of 100.[3]
The New York Times review stated that Wimbledon was a "much more conventional film," but with "cleverer-than-average dialogue and sharply drawn subsidiary characters".[4] In Michael Charlotte's film review for Empire, he gave the film three out of five stars, saying that, "In tennis parlance, this fires off more moonballs to stay in play than outright winning shots. But Bettany is charming, and thankfully he and Dunst are appealing together".[5]
Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review. "'Wimbledon' is a well-behaved movie about nice people who have good things happen to them. That's kind of startling, in a world where movie characters, especially in sports movies, occupy the edge of human experience. What a surprise to hear conversation instead of dialogue, and to realize that the villain may actually be right some of the time". He ultimately gave the movie three out of four stars.
Box office
The film opened at #4 making US$7.1 million in its opening weekend in the North American box office.
Soundtrack
The film's digital soundtrack uses the "Surround EX" format, the same track format used for the Star Wars prequels and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The song that plays in the trailer of the film is "Everlasting Love" by U2.
References
- ↑ "Movie History". Stoke Park. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
- ↑ "Wimbledon - Rotten Tomatoes". Au.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ↑ "Wimbledon Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ↑ Holden, Stephen (17 September 2004). "Learning to Win at Love With a Center Court Rally". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Empire's Wimbledon Movie Review". Empireonline.com. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
External links
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