Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

BoardChiri Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

TxMike My wife and I watched this movie on DVD from our public library. We are both tennis fans, we enjoyed the glimpse into the past of two great tennis players.The movie focuses on the epic battle of Borg and McEnroe during the 1980 Wimbledon matches. Their final match is generally considered one of the very best of all time. Borg was only 24 but also only 2 years away from retirement. McEnroe was just 20 and destined to eventually become world #1. You can't make a 90+ minute movie just featuring one match, so there are ample flashbacks of each competitor in their younger days, looking at what influences they had and how they dealt with some of their behavior issues.A worthwhile movie.

NeutralWord I have no interest in tennis as a sport yet this is riveting to me since the movie is about the players, stardom and professional sports organizations not about tennis in particular. Suspect i could re watch this 20 years later and it would be as relevant then as it is now

zkonedog A sport like tennis has a lot in common with, say, boxing when it comes to easy-adaptation for drama. Both sports are a one-on-one clash of athleticism, playing styles, and sheer determination. Team sports (football, baseball, basketball, etc.) are tougher to pin down, as they feature so many moving parts. That is why a movie like "Borg vs. McEnroe" can succeed so spectacularly.For a basic plot summary, this film tells the story of the rivalry between tennis pros Bjorn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason) and John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf). Borg is the ultimate stoic (never showing any emotion whatsoever), while McEnroe is the loose cannon, know for his temper tantrums on the court and his berating of match officials. It mainly focuses on their 1980 clash at Wimbledon, where they meet in the finals and both have a great deal on the line (as flashbacks show how both their respective upbringings led them to this point).What makes "Borg vs. McEnroe" such an infinitely interesting film is how it is truly a study in contrasts. While one could almost accuse the film of playing up those differences for the sake of drama, the fact of the matter is that there indeed was such a disparity between personality types even in real life. Even casual sports fans have seen one of McEnroe's "you cannot be serious!" rants, and Borg's own history is written all over the tennis record books. Basically, this was a rivalry that begged to be made into a film like this (the only wonder being that it didn't happen even sooner).To pull this off, of course, the acting has to be top-notch, and indeed it is. Gudnason's Borg is an enigma, equal parts quietly confident and (behind the scenes) glaringly insecure. LaBeouf is masterful at playing McEnroe, as he is so good at playing the semi-manic personality. This is a role that he was practically born to inhabit, and it was good to see him back in front of the camera instead of being the subject of memes and derision. I've always considered his acting to be impeccable in almost everything he's ever done.Overall, then, "Borg vs. McEnroe" is one that I'll be recommending to everyone. Even if you aren't into tennis or are much of a sports person in general, this is one that transcends its pastime based on the character clash. Everyone can find an "in" for this movie, as it is a classic struggle of wildly different personality types at its core. It's unfortunate this film doesn't seem to be getting a large theater opening, as it is far superior to "Battle of the Sexes", another tennis-centric movie within the past year.

cdcrb Even if you know nothing at all about tennis or borg or McEnroe, you should enjoy this film about the background, work ethics and media blitz which occurred during their rivalry. shia lebeouf is quite good as the loud mouth McEnroe. that's actually a compliment.