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After playing Tennis in my gym class this movie popped up in my mind. I had seen it years ago on tv but only small parts of it so, I decided oh why not give this movie a chance? I'm so happy I made that decision, this was a wonderful movie.
Blending multiple genres together is a difficult task but here, director Richard Loncraine does a fantastic job fusing these genres together. This is considered to be a romance/comedy/drama/sports movie, I too consider it to be that but it's more so a romance type film than a romantic comedy. That does not mean that there aren't too many funny parts, there's a handful of them but I was mostly invested in the relationship between Bettany and Dunst. The chemistry between them is wonderful, it didn't feel forced, it felt natural. They make such a great couple, you want them to be together, hell I wanted them to be together, I actually cared about what happened to them and their relationship. This reaction took me by surprise, rarely do I ever do that.
The acting here is good, everyone gives a nice performance but I think Bettany rises above everyone else. He just commands the screen and actually over powers some people in certain scenes. He's a great actor and I wish he would do more of these kinds of roles, he really fit his character well. Kirsten Dunst also gives a nice performance, she's cute and sweet like a lollipop. All the actors looked like they worked well together and had fun working with each other which really makes a difference sometimes.
The screenplay is better than you'd expect from this kind of a movie. It's smart and sometimes quirky. The inner monologues of Bettany's character were just brilliant. They really added depth to his character, giving us an insight of what he's thinking in that moment and his reaction on the court during every game. It really made Bettany's character more interesting and actually made us care about him even more. All the characters were nicely developed, the relationship between Bettany's and Dunst's characters was nicely developed which is why I cared about them so much.
The tennis scenes themselves were nicely done and unlike tennis in real life, I wasn't bored watching the tennis games in the movie. They were nicely shot even though I'm sure some shots were digitally edited. Though this is a movie, this didn't feel too unbelievable I'm sure something like this could happen in real life minus a few things here or there but this felt a little bit real to me which is why I think it's better than most romance/sports type of movies.
My only complaint is that this is a bit formulaic and predictable. This uses a well worn formula: Gut meets girl, Guy and Girl start to fall for one another, guy and girl get into a fight, and then I'm sure you can figure out what happens in the end. However, this movie at least uses it well.
Overall, despite being a bit predictable and formulaic, this is a terrific movie, with great acting, a great screenplay, great characters, great chemistry between the leads, great/entertaining tennis game scenes, and a nice blend between genres. If anyone has the time I recommend they see it. This is a great movie, perfect for a Friday night or watching it with your girlfriend I don't know, just see it.
