Challengers ★★★
LUCA Guadagnino knows how to make a romantic film with a difference.
Call Me by Your Name and Bones and All are emotionally challenging and wonderfully engaging examples.
The Italian director’s latest, Challengers, has many of the same qualities but doesn’t quite reach the same high standards.
It’s hard to put a finger on why, because the film is so well made in every technical respect.
But, in the end, I think it comes down to your connection with the characters in Justin Kuritzkes’ script, particularly the polarising Tashi, wonderfully played by Zendaya.
Challengers is also being billed as a sports film, because it’s set in the world of competitive tennis, but the main characters could have been real estate salespersons, as long as they had, or did have, passion for their work and were pitted against each other in every way.
That being said, Guadagnino words hard to inventively capture on film a sport that doesn’t usually present that well.
The base story is essentially a love triangle upon which Guadagnino examines each person’s feelings and motivations but within the context of their competitive pyches.
The first character we meet is Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) who is a top-ranked tennis player struggling for form. Tashi, his wife and manager and a former junior champion, suggests a re-set by entering a few lesser tournaments to get his confidence back.
But the plan is thrown into chaos when Art discovers his former friend and struggling player Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connnor) is in the same draw. Zweig is also Tash’s former boyfriend.
As is often the case with modern film and television, the story is then told in multiple past time periods as we learn more about the characters and their relationships.
Everything culminates in a final battle of wills and emotions on the tennis court.
The film has attracted a lot of praise with many critics labelling it one of the best films so far released in 2024.
It’s captivating and stylish but, despite the actors’ strong efforts, empathy for their characters is a little hard to come by.
Watched at the cinema.