Battle of the Sexes

Truly an amazing and inspiring movie. I must confess it left me in tears in the end, when the stylist said to Billie Jean “one day we will be free to be who we are and love who we want.”

Never get between a woman and her hairdresser!!!!

Inspiring and well produced film.
It really casts a lens on how far we've come and how far we still need to go when it comes to equality for women.
I wasn't around for the hubbub back then so genuinely didn't know how it all turned out. Found myself getting really into the match and cheering when BJK won a point.
Brilliant cast and portrayal of this story.

This is NOT a Comedy (although some of the behaviour is ludicrous). It is an event driven, bio-pic, and it addresses issues and decisions that were and are both global and personal. Great cast, great performances. It is almost unimaginable that the things that were said about women in this film were ever said, or, even worse, believed, and that the resulting behaviour was so warped, and I lived through it (I was in college during the 70s) - it was our reality that few questioned. Even though most of the ridiculous statements wouldn't be tolerated today, today's headlines show that the issues and behaviours, though unspoken have not disappeared but have simply gone underground and are still held and acted upon by people who feel entitled by power or brutality. It is shameful and must be exposed for real change to take place. I give the movie a 7.5 (good) out of 10 (with the extra .5 for holding up a mirror). I was glad to see this movie and to be reminded of what a few courageous women did to change things. [Drama, History]

Smartly done writing kept the irony subtle in a event where all arguments and discussions are still relevant, sadly. Brilliant cast brought color to the story and made me watch and laugh at the stupidity of the chauvinists rather than getting infuriated

Emma Stone and Steve Carell are terrific.

'Battle of the Sexes' is an interesting look on the famous tennis match from 1973 between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. I'm sure it takes all the usual creative license that biopics tend to do, but that's doesn't bother me - especially with this type of event.

Stone (King) and Carell (Riggs) are definitely what hold this film together, without those two I don't believe it would've been as enjoyable. Sarah Silverman (Gladys) and Andrea Riseborough (Marilyn) are alright, though the main attraction here are the two leads.

Talking of Marilyn, I didn't really care for the love stories on show - with Marilyn, but also those involving Larry (Austin Stowell) and Priscilla (Elisabeth Shue). The rest is sufficiently entertaining, though.

It's sometimes a little too on the nose with the (obviously positive) message it's portraying, but that's just a small thing to note. Overall, this is a production I'd recommend you watch - tennis/sports fan or not.

Its 15-love to womankind in this telling of the infamous tennis game that was more a battle for equality than a game of tennis. Not quite as compelling as it could have been perhaps, but Stone and Carrell do great work in the lead roles.

1 / 2 directing & technical aspect
1 / 1 story
1 / 1 act I
1 / 1 act II
1 / 1 act III
1 / 1 acting
1 / 1 writing
0 / 1 originality
0 / 1 lasting ability to make you think

0 / 1 misc

7 out of 10

Like a tennis match, it was interesting at the beginning and the end, but slow in the middle.

The second act tried to cover too much by dwelling on both homophobia in the 70s and equal rights. I'm glad they addressed Billie Jean King's lesbianism, but felt they spent far too much time developing this subplot.

As for the acting, Emma Stone continues to prove she has better acting chops than most people working today and establishes herself as the premiere leading lady in Hollywood. Steve Carell, on the other hand, takes a step back in time after his brilliant portrayal of John du Pont in Foxcatcher. Here he's basically Michael Scott from The Office in tennis clothes.

One final note on the supporting roles... It was so good to see Elisabeth Shue again! She's such a tremendous presence yet hardly ever receives roles worthy of her, her part as Bobby Rigg's wife is a welcome turn. And Sarah Silverman! Who knew she could act!? She nails her role as Gladys the manager/promoter and made me want to see her in more feature films.