Wimbledon (2004) The Role of the Man

Wimbledon (2004) Universal

Maybe it’s just because I like sports, but I found Wimbledon to be a witty romantic comedy that highlights difficulties in life and in sports careers. Unlike other English based romantic comedies, this one provides a less than admirable male lead. Paul Bettany is usually not considered to be good looking or even in shape but manages to pull off an aging tennis player quite well. Kirsten Dunst is cute, but I don’t consider her to be a knockout by any measure. I know this is an odd metric for Rom-Coms but come on, most of them have the quirky girl type and if they aren’t quirky, they are sexy, or strong. Dunst is none of those and I kind of dig it.

Something must be said about the cast. They have a great lineup with Jaime Lannister, Captain Vasili Borodin, Mr. Tumnis, and Iron Mans Bodyguard which ignores the main casting completely.

Playing tennis is rough due to the fact that all the best players are ranked at the top and very few times in its history has an outlier ever won a major tournament. If you are not in the top 10 your chances for winning a major tournament are practically zero.

It has to be mentioned that I am usually not a fan of your typical Rom-Com and I was not excited to see this movie when it first came out. I was pleasantly surprised that the film was able to show the inner doubt of an aging tennis player and some of the inner dialogue was very humorous. I thought that his thoughts were probably accurate and his relationship with Dunst genuine. It’s a circumstance that had a large probability and did not seem far fetch unlike other films of the genre. You are rooting for their relationship but it’s obviously going to have problems because of her father and due to the fact that she starts to have feelings for him.

All this mushy stuff aside I think it is off-putting that this film could not be made if the roles were reversed. If Paul was the strong athlete that gained feelings for the girl and decided to focus on his game rather than get involved he would just come off like a jerk. If the woman does it, Paul’s character spends the rest of the day pining over her. It’s not a weak plot point, but it is something to mention. I don’t see why films have to be so gender oriented. Granted this movie avoids the stereotype with women, but it does convert the male lead into a very weak spirited love junkie. I do not construe this as a bad thing, but it’s one thing to be a man and play the character of the girl and it is completely different to be a man and play the role of a man who just happens to be in love. He doesn’t break out in song, but at some points he just seems so wussy that it makes him an unbelievable character. I guess if I were in his role I would just go for the grand romantic gesture and if it didn’t work then I would let it go. If talking to a sports analyst and pouring your heart out (in hopes that she would see) consist of this moment then it kind of fell short for me, but I am a man and I have been known to lack certain empathies.