Battle of the Sexes (2017)

Directed by: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris | 122 minutes | biography, comedy | Actors: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Elisabeth Shue, Eric Christian Olsen, Fred Armisen, Martha MacIsaac, Lauren Kline, Mickey Sumner, Fidan Manashirova, Jessica McNamee, Ashley Weinhold Austin Stowell, Wallace Langham, Kaitlyn Christian, Bridey Elliott, Lewis Pullman

‘Battle of the Sexes’ is a wonderful film that takes place in the 70s, but (unfortunately) is still current: the unequal treatment and financial reward of women compared to men. In 1970, top tennis player Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) and sponsor/publisher of a women’s tennis magazine Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman) have had enough: the men on the professional tennis circuit are paid much more: $12,000 for tournament wins as a man versus $1,500 for the female winner. When they confront Bob (and ex-pro) Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) about this inequality, he brushes aside their objections: after all, men’s tennis is much better – and the women should know their place. Furious, they set up their own tournament league, with eight players. For King, her professional career isn’t the only turbulence: although she is married to her high school sweetheart Larry (Austin Stowell), she discovers she has romantic feelings for her hairdresser Marilyn Barnett (Andrea Riseborough). The two secretly start an affair, which can also have major consequences for her professional career.

Ex-tennis pro Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) follows the establishment of the new women’s tournament with interest. A well-known figure on the tennis circuit, he has become an avid gambler and hustler after his glorious career. Now in his 50s, he lives on his past glory as a former US Open and Wimbledon champion, unhappy in the job his father-in-law arranged for him and unhappy in his marriage to Priscilla (Elizabeth Shue). She finds his irresistible lust to gamble almost as abominable as his constant lying about it. Riggs seems to share the view of many men that they are physically superior to women when it comes to tennis – and that women are inferior in other areas as well. He challenges King to a match he thinks he can easily win, even though King is 25 years younger. Overwhelmed with guilt over her secret relationship with Marilyn and the pressures of her career, King declines the request.

Riggs then takes on King’s great rival Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee) in two sets, reinforcing the image that men are indeed better than women. King feels compelled to accept Riggs’ newfound challenge to disprove this false assumption once and for all. In 1973 it culminated in one of the most watched sporting events in the world: ‘The Battle of the Sexes.’

Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy’s screenplay (‘Slumdog Millionaire’, ‘The Full Monty’) is sharp, full of comedic moments without losing sight of the dramatic elements. The comedy comes mainly from Carell, who gives his version of Bobby Riggs a childlike enthusiasm, but also shows that he is a gifted actor in the dramatic moments. Emma Stone once again impresses in one of her best roles. Not only with blue contact lenses, the haircut and glasses, she knows how to shape Billie Jean King well: she also grew kilos of muscle to look more like the tennis star, although she freely admitted that she is a bad player. Stand-ins were also used in the match scenes. Emma Stone and Steve Carell were both (rightly) nominated for a Golden Globe – although in the end they didn’t win.

The excellent lead actors are well supported, mostly by actors known from comedy, especially Alan Cumming as the extravagant costume designer and traveling jack-of-all-trades Ted Tinling. Also a commendation to Austin Stowell, who demurely and subtly plays the part of surprisingly understanding husband Larry King, with much restrained grief over the demise of his relationship with Billie Jean.

‘Battle of the Sexes’ was directed by the couple Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who debuted in 2006 with ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, which evokes a typical 70s atmosphere, aided by the excellent decoration. Lots of browns and oranges, sideburns and clothes. It is occasionally shocking how openly men in the film talk with disdain about the abilities of women, whom they prefer to see ‘in the kitchen or in the bedroom’. The fact that the makers even use real TV images with statements by famous Americans only underlines how much has changed. And then again: most men don’t mind talking out loud about women so negatively (in mixed company anyway), but in thought and behavior many power structures from the 1970s are still preserved.

That message is not hit hard by Dayton and Faris, but ‘Battle of the Sexes’ does make you think. Incidentally, the personal animosity between Court and King is hardly dramatized for the film. Her aversion to King also seems to be mainly focused on Billie Jean’s sexual orientation. After her career, Court founded a denomination in her home country that still fiercely opposes LGBT rights, such as opening up marriage to same-sex couples. Her statements still spark controversy, which detracts from her status as one of the greatest players of all time.

In 2001 a TV movie about the same match was made: ‘When Billie beat Bobby’, with Holly Hunter as Billie Jean King and Ron Silver as Bobby Riggs.