Tashi, a former tennis prodigy turned coach (played by Zendaya), turned her husband (Mike Faist) into a champion. But to overcome a losing streak, he needs to face his ex-best friend and Tashi’s ex-boyfriend (Josh O’Connor).
This is a romantic sports drama toughie for me. It certainly is dramatic — melodramatic even — and the action-filled sports scenes are well shot (if overdone at times)… but romantic? This ain’t like any romance I’ve ever had!
Our leads spend most of their time treating each other badly. So much so that it was tough for me to relate to anyone, or know whom to root for since I didn’t *like them; I don’t even know what outcome would be best for any of them.
And speaking of outcomes, the ending takes that melodrama to a whole `nuther level… it strained the limits of my patience and made an already erratic movie pretty unwelcome by its troubled ending; an ending which is somewhat silly, overwrought, confusing, and unbelievable simultaneously. That takes some doing. The ending also made “Challengers” unnecessarily longer too; this could have been a 2-hour movie, easily. I was also surprised that an R-rated sexy flick pulled so many punches.
Not that many agree with me as “Challengers” is doing well over at Metacritic and elsewhere, too. But not with me; a barely above average “C+” for “Challengers” which I think is at least aptly named since I found it challenging to watch.
I can recognize it’s well made, in parts… direction, editing, dialog, acting, etc. But it’s still not a story I enjoy watching. So; no accounting for taste!
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“Challengers”
MPAA: R
Running Time: 2 hr 11 min
Genres: Drama, Romance, Sport
