Back in 1980, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe went head-to-head at Wimbledon in what many sports fans consider to be the greatest tennis match of all time.
Now an English-language Swedish biopic has arrived focusing on the players rivalry in the lead up to the Men’s singles final.
But what did the critics make of the new movie?
So far the film has generally favourable reviews with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 72% positive and many giving Borg vs. McEnroe three stars out of five.
Daily Express
A handsome, well-made trip down memory lane that works best if you’ve forgotten the final score.
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EMPIRE
A sports film with an arthouse sensibility. It benefits greatly from its chosen subject matter – two of the most remarkable characters in sporting history – but only manages to truly get under the skin of one of them.
Total Film
A superior sports biopic with a never-better LaBeouf? You cannot be serious! But it only fully gets to grips with the ice-cool Swede.
Hollywood Reporter
Though it never justifies the overblown Andre Agassi quote used as its preface (“every match is a life in miniature”), the picture certainly shows how a single match can be made to feel like the world depends on it.
Variety
Playing tennis may not seem the best use of Shia LaBeouf’s talents, but the star is terrific in a role that shrewdly plays off his controversial off-screen persona.
Independent
Borg McEnroe is informative and well-acted but also very predictable.
Financial Times
Lights a subtle glow under Borg, simmering his troubled introspection with help from Sverrir Gudnason’s well-acted and startling lookalike.
The Sun
A brilliant score and wonderful characters – Stellan Skarsgard and Tuva Novotny are joyous – means Borg Vs McEnroe is darned exciting in spite of itself.
The Guardian
This tennis film feels like a two-hour baseline rally, and it’s not just the rackets that are made of wood.
Daily Telegraph
The combined effect of a corner-cutting script and superficial direction is that Gudnason comes off as a capable, photogenic doppelgänger – no more, no less.Delving into these details was what made this film slightly better than your average sports movie, although I still feel it didn’t quite free itself from all the cliches associated with the genre.
Borg vs. McEnroe is released in UK cinemas today.