PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 9/20/04)


It’s about time Paul Bettany got a leading role. Much like his journeyman character, Bettany has spent much of the past decade playing underrated supporting roles in underseen films, but finally, with Wimbledon, he has an attention-grabbing leading role. Too bad, as struggling pro tennis player Peter Colt, he’s saddled with such a pedantically predictable script.

Bettany is possessed of an appealing self-consciousness that buoys the film over pits of sappiness and endless (but, well, necessary) tennis sequences. His gift is that he projects never believing himself quick enough, handsome enough, or clever enough for the leading man’s slot, much like Hugh Grant did in Four Weddings and a Funeral, but still manages to charm the pants off the audience with seeming ease. The film is his, with all its quirks and pitfalls, and his performance is light, smart, funny, and touching.

Even Kirsten Dunst, normally given to leaden performances highlighted by pouting and the occasional damsel-in-distress shriek, gains some spark and buoyancy opposite Bettany. Her kick-ass Lizzie Bradbury comes off as more tantrum-prone brat than McEnroe-style rebel, but with Bettany she’s given to occasional flashes of vulnerability and humor.

Anyone with even a working knowledge or appreciation of professional tennis will probably wince through the sequences, which show just how hard decided non-pros Bettany and Dunst had to work. Thankfully the film features fine off-court support from Bernard Hill, Sam Neill, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and a hysterical cameo from Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones’s Diary).

Director Richard Loncraine’s 1995 Richard III was a stylish assault on the senses, featuring one of Ian McKellen’s best performances. The techniques he uses in Wimbledon, including fast zooms and Colt’s paranoid inner monologue, elevate the frequently rote rhythm of sports movies to something more tolerable. It’s capable and strong direction that hold the audience through the final match, but in the end, it’s Paul Bettany’s world, and the rest of us are just happy to visit for an hour and a half.