I was given complimentary passes to view Battle of the Sexes this past Wednesday with the intention of writing somewhat of a standard movie review. After watching the movie, I knew that this was going to be more than that.
I didn’t know what to expect when I entered the theater. Some people told me it was a documentary, so that is what initially stuck in my head. I was confused by that because any movie with Steve Carrell has to be somewhat funny – but I stuck with that notion and sat down in the uber comfy reclining movie seats with my bag of popcorn and waited for the movie to begin.
THE HISTORY OF TENNIS
Some interesting tennis facts:
Did you know that tennis is mentioned as far back as the Middle Ages?
Also, “real tennis” as it was known, was first played with one’s hand, then with a glove, and then the racket came into play.
Wimbledon was founded in 1877!
MY HISTORY WITH TENNIS
I was introduced to tennis while interning for Chris Evert Charities. I was in charge of PR for the event as well as the National Anthem Contest, and loved the experience. My second internship was with the Red Clay Tennis Tournament (which no longer exists) but really skyrocketed my admiration for the sport.
I tried to play once with my husband, then boyfriend at the time, and once I hit the ball over the chainlink fence and hit a car, I took that as a sign to try another sport.
THE REVIEW
Battle of the Sexes, to me, was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster – in a good way. It was a documentary in the sense that it showcased how the women tennis stars were treated at that time (grrrrr), as well as how they overcame adversity. I’m not, in any way, giving away the ending as this is based on the true story of how Billie Jean King helped to bring equality to women in tennis.
I always knew that gender equality has come a long way from the past, but in watching how women were portrayed back then was more than a bit disturbing. I couldn’t wait for Billie Jean to beat Bob’s ass!
The cast is top-notch – Steve Carrell, Emma Stone, Sarah Silverman – all favorites of mine!
Although the rating is PG-13 I don’t know if I’d necessarily let the boys watch it just yet – maybe when they are a bit older. There’s no violence, but there are some scenes that are too mature for them.
Overall, I give the movie 2 thumbs up. I laughed, I was sad, I got angry – collaboratively all signs of a great flick!
Check out movie times and purchase tickets via Fandango!
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