Battle of the Sexes  ★★★½

IF THE infamous tennis match at the centre of Battle of the Sexes was staged today the outrage would be ten-fold.

Imagine the social media meltdown that would greet the chauvinist antics of former US Open champion Bobby Riggs, regardless of the intent behind them.

Back in 1973 the retired Riggs, a 56-year-old compulsive gambler and serial attention-seeker, decided he could earn money and regain some celebrity status by challenging the top womens’ player to an exhibition match.

While Riggs’ motivations were pretty clear,the ramifications of his actions were wide and varied.

The world’s best female players were fighting the sport’s establishment, run mainly by men, for equality – equal pay for attracting the same number of spectators.

Both sides came to embrace the contest as a battle to legitimise their competing positions in the public eye.

At the forefront was Billie-Jean KIng, a beacon for her fellow players but also a gay woman struggling with her sexuality and the stigma associated with public disclosure.

This adds up to an entertaining and multi-layered story told with energy and spirit by directing team Jonathan Dayton  and Valerie Faris and their lead actors.

Emma Stone and Steve Carell are authentic and convincing in their roles, both finely balancing the showmanship and bravado of their public contest with the deeply personal issues they struggled with privately.

While the universal themes are presented a little heavy-handedly, Simon Beaufoy’s writing, the direction and acting combine best for the quieter moments away from the glare of publicity when King and Riggs are wrestling with their personal demons and struggling to keep relationships intact.

It’s also fascinating to see the risks and lengths to which King and fellow players went, portrayed as petulant renegades in their pursuit of fairness.

The recreation of the period is frequently amusing, nicely blending real television coverage with the live action, particularly for the climactic match which Stone and Carell appear to play out convincingly themselves.

And finally, the film’s Australian release date, smack in the middle of the same-sex marriage debate, could not have been better timed if Riggs himself had been the promoter.