Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, written by Academy Award-winning Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy and co-produced by Academy Award-winning Filmmaker Danny Boyle, the Sports Drama based around 1973’s high-profile tennis match pitting former World No. 1s Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) and Billie Jean King (Emma Stone), recreates the paths each player took to the highly-touted match.
The event would on a grander scale be a significant moment in women’s liberation with doubts being cast by its male organizers about women’s place and worth in society. The Film also looks at Billie Jean King‘s personal struggle with her identity, then married to husband Larry (Austin Stowell) and falling in love with hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough).
While many of us know already the outcome of the match, Dayton and Faris do some phenomenal work helping us arrive at it.
If you think you’ve seen Oscar-winning Stone at her best, she throws us a tour-de-force here, stepping-up to the physicality of her role convincingly. Carell plays up Bobby‘s overconfidence and chauvinism, having fun with it and still makes us feel for him, which is no easy feat. Fantastic supporting turns from Riseborough, Sarah Silverman and Natalie Morales complete a strong Ensemble.
Battle of the Sexes screens TIFF ’17:
Sunday, September 10, 2017 6:00 PM Ryerson Theatre
Monday, September 11, 2017 2:30 PM Princess of Wales Theatre
Friday, September 15, 2017 3:00 PM Princess of Wales Theatre
Saturday, September 16, 2017 5:00 PM Ryerson Theatre
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