Borg Vs McEnroe review: A handsome, well-made trip down memory lane

Borg Vs McEnroe (Cert 15; 108mins)

In the one corner stood the ice-cool four-time champion Björn Borg (Sverrir Gudnason), in the other, brash young contender “Super Brat” John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf).

Borg Vs McEnroe focuses on that all-important final but also explores why it mattered so much and reveals that these two polar opposites may have had more in common than we thought. Swedish star Gudnason is the absolute spitting image of Borg.

The resemblance is uncanny and he expertly captures the Swede’s reserved manner and the way he played without betraying a flicker of emotion. It is an extraordinary impersonation in a film tilted towards Borg. We learn that he too once had a volatile temper but he was forced to overcome it by coach Lennart Bergelin (Stellan Skarsgård).

Shia LaBeouf doesn’t entirely convince as the 21-year-old McEnroe but he is spot on when it comes to temper tantrums, rants and angry outbursts at umpires. A handsome, well-made trip down memory lane that works best if you’ve forgotten the final score.