Challengers

Synopsis: Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Grand Slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

Review:

My experience was watching a movie along in a nice, fancy theater Showplace Icon Tyson’s midafternoon in the last week. I had heard a few podcast reviews that talked about the need to see this film in a high quality theater with good sound, since the Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score is a huge driving aspect of the film matching Luca Guadagnino’s directing style and his multitime partner cinematographer, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom. I am glad that I went to the theater rather then wait to see this film at home, no matter how good my television and sound setup it couldn’t match the expereience and intensity of this film’s creation.

Overall this film is sexy, steamy and intense. I am truly impressed with the three leads of this film: Zendaya as Tashi Donaldson, Mike Faist as Art Donaldson and to me the stand out Josh O’Connor as Patrick Zweig. Zendaya is super restrained and dejected after her career ending knee injury, but before this tragedy she feels like a lioness that is prowling the tennis court and the rest of planet earth. In an early scene where Tashi wins a tennis match she releases a guttural scream of destruction, dominance and exhilaration. This film is dominated by the ambitious, empowered and driven Tashi, from her air traffic controlling the trio’s engagement when she gets the boys to both engage with her and then one another, eventually leave the gents to their post trio makeout feelings. Patrick defeated Art in the next morning’s one on one tennis match and this got him Tashi’s phone number and eventually lead to their dating, even though she and Art headed to Stanford while Patrick went to the pro circuit. Art seeded negative insights to both Tashi and Patrick, we are sold that he is and has been deeper in love then Tashi then her boyfriend and his best friend Patrick.

I really enjoyed this film the story jumps back and forth in time, and the kinetic score that drove the movie forward no matter how many flashbacks the director / editor. If you can see this film before it leaves theaters you should, if you can’t maybe toss on some headphones so you can be enveloped in the film.