Well, gee, is 2017 going to relive all my pre-pubescent tennis memories? If so, when does “Flipping the Bird – The Ilie Năstase Story” come out? How about “Bowl: the Tell-all Memoir from Jimmy Connors‘ Personal Barber?”
In July of 1980, four time defending Wimbledon champ Björn Borg, the best tennis player in the world, and upstart John McEnroe, the next-best tennis player in the world, met for the Wimbledon championship. Not only were they the two best players in the world, they were, on the surface, complete opposites: Borg (Sverrir Gudnason), a stoic Swede, couldn’t be rattled, couldn’t be ruffled. A right-handed baseliner, Borg was like a tennis machine, constantly pounding away at opponents. The lefty McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf) came to the net as often as he drew breath. Far from reserved, he was known for explosive emotional displays, often angry ones aimed at the umpire, the line judge, the crowd, the ball girl, random tourists, small children, Queen Elizabeth II, or anyone of whom he might get a reaction. Borg McEnroe is the bio of the day they first met in the Wimbledon final and the events that got them there.
Is it any wonder that Borg grew up with a very similar temperament to McEnroe? I imagine both men as unrelenting perfectionists. The action takes great pains to show how the young Borg’s temper almost got him barred permanently from the Swedish national tennis scene. Hey, don’t be a baby, Björn. Just play the game. Legendary former star Lennart Bergelin (Stellan Skarsgård) takes the boy under his wing and demonstrates exactly what dicks chair umpires can be if they desire. How Borg goes from tennismanian devil to guy who constantly looks like he’s on guard duty is explained away in one conversation. Wouldn’t it be nice if it were just that easy? What is clear in this narrative is that McEnroe has channeled his tennis anxieties into inappropriate emotional outbursts while Borg channeled his into obsessive superstition. Either that or he really enjoys laying twenty rackets flat and feet testing them the night before a match? Who wouldn’t?
The Borg McEnroe rivalry is easily dismissed as a war of personalities. The iceman against the tempest. Of secondary concern anywhere are what kind of competitors these men were. Not only were both men incredible athletes -Borg likely would have gone pro in ice hockey had tennis not had his back, yet on the court, McEnroe could make the Swede look like a statue- they were both master tacticians. At the time of this rivalry, the technology revolution in tennis was still a few years away. Hence, these guys actually had to study opponents. I don’t mean to knock a guy like, say, Pete Sampras. Sampras is as worthy of any accolade he’s been given, but at the end of the day, I doubt very seriously Pete had to put in half the work as John McEnroe on tactics – serve, volley, point. Serve, volley, point. One break and the set was his. I’m not sure 
this film was as strong as it needed to be on the skill set these men owned, but Borg McEnroe went out of its way to show gamesmanship – from Borg studying the television feed to McEnroe rewriting the entire Wimbledon bracket on the wall of his hotel room.
All of this foreplay leads up to the 1980 Wimbledon men’s final, which is considered the greatest match in tennis history. I appreciate that the guys they got to play Borg and McEnroe can indeed play tennis a little, unlike those jokers in Wimbledon. Ugh. I also appreciate the desire for background. Yeah, the film skimped a little on McEnroe – it’s pretty clear this is a Swedish production—but we learned a great deal of young Björn, free and mighty. That said, the climax goes on far too long. If you want to see the 1980 Wimbledon final in its entirety, I’m pretty sure you don’t want Shia LaBeouf standing in for the real John McEnroe. Also, quite frankly, it’s hard to watch McEnroe off the court; it’s hard to watch a depiction of McEnroe off the court. He’s neither brilliant enough to be loved universally, nor villain enough to be loathed by the same. As a result, Borg McEnroe was passable, like a second serve baseline rally, but hardly an ace.
Two men of whom greatness could sniff
One spazz and the other quite stiff
Met for a classic
In the tennis Jurassic
When “You Got Served” meant something quite diff
Not Rated, 107 Minutes
Director: Janus Metz
Writer: Ronnie Sandahl
Genre: Tired of tennis history yet?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The grandmother who watches Wimbledon like it’s a religious experience
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who think Björn Borg should have gone into ice hockey
