Review of “Borg vs. McEnroe: An Intriguing Examination of a Vivacious Tennis Professional (Not John McEnroe)”

Review of “Borg vs. McEnroe: An Intriguing Examination of a Vivacious Tennis Professional (Not John McEnroe)”

The film “Borg vs. McEnroe,” which debuted on Friday in restricted theaters and on video on demand, accurately describes its two main protagonists: Björn Borg and John McEnroe. While McEnroe’s on-court tantrums directed mostly at line judges and umpires are the main association between the two names, the film, which was directed by Danish filmmaker Janus Metz and features a screenplay by Swedish writer and director Ronnie Sandahl, focuses far more intently on Borg’s early life and ascent to tennis prominence.

The action centers on the 1980 Wimbledon tournament, where McEnroe (played by Shia LaBeouf) and Borg (played by Sverrir Gudnason), both twenty-one and the winner of four Wimbledon titles, faced off in the finals. However, Sandahl and Metz find a paradox in the film that, in their opinion, makes Borg’s persona and the story of his ascent far more interesting and fascinating than McEnroe’s, meaning that a large portion of the film is backstory, and the majority of that backstory is Borg’s.

The action centers on the 1980 Wimbledon tournament, where McEnroe (played by Shia LaBeouf) and Borg (played by Sverrir Gudnason), both twenty-one and the winner of four Wimbledon titles, faced off in the finals. However, Sandahl and Metz find a paradox in the film that, in their opinion, makes Borg’s persona and the story of his ascent far more complicated and intriguing than McEnroe’s, meaning that a large portion of the film is backstory, and the majority of that backstory is Borg’s.

The filmmakers take care to show that, despite Borg’s reputation as a cold and emotionless tennis robot whose methodical baseline game and well-placed shots matched his dispassionate temperament, Borg actually had a fiery personality. As a budding competitor, he was as much of a temperamental troublemaker as McEnroe was, and his outbursts almost cost him his toehold in Swedish tennis. Borg is portrayed as having a fiery personality as a child and as a mid-teenager by Marcus Mossberg.

Lennart Bergelin, played by Stellan Skarsgård, was his coach and the one who saved him. He helped him recognize the advantage he had over others due to his “rage, fear, and panic,” and he also taught him how to regulate his emotions so that those fires didn’t interfere with his game but instead served as silent fuel.