Battle of the Sexes isn’t as great as it could have been, but I did admire the performances from Emma Stone, Steve Carell and Andrea Riseborough, all deserving of award recognition.
Battle of the Sexes
(2017)
Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Sports
Fox | PG13 – 121 min. – $34.99 | January 2, 2018
Date Published: 01/08/2017 | Author: The Movieman
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THE MOVIE — 3.25/5 |
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Battle of the Sexes, if you didn’t already know, was a turning point for gender equality when in 1973 Billie Jean King (EMMA STONE) is challenged to a tennis match with former men’s champion Bobby Riggs (STEVE CARELL), who is a bit of a huckster (and hustler) making outrageous comments. The film also examines King’s personal life and her gay affair with hairdresser Marilyn (ANDREA RISEBOROUGH) as well as leading the charge for pay equality with their male tennis counterparts, leaving the tennis association where she and her fellow players would join a newly formed league, by her manager Gladys Heldman (SARAH SILVERMAN).
The film is for the most part, fine. Not good not bad just kind of okay. Although the performances from Emma Stone, Steven Carell and Riley Riseborough are all deserving of award recognition, there wasn’t much here that was all that memorable, though the costumes and production designs do seem historically accurate from what I could tell. But even the pivotal final match, albeit thrilling at moments, wasn’t very effective. As I said, the cast was great. Emma Stone makes for a forcible but still unsure champion while Steven Carell continues to prove he’s probably more adept for the more dramatic roles than he is in comedies. Andrea Riseborough continues to turn in great work, I first noticed her in the ensemble drama, Disconnect as a tenacious reporter. She probably was the highlight and certainly should get a Supporting Actress nomination.
Directed by Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton, Battle of the Sexes is a perfectly fine sports-dramedy but I probably would recommend the 2013 documentary of the same name which was far more interesting but as these things go, it is worth a rental. On the plus side, this film did make me see more tennis matches, albeit choreographed, than I had ever seen in my life… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5 |
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This release comes with a semi-glossy slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy and DVD Copy. The features are on the lighter side with the Billie Jean King’s Grand Entrance (2:17; HD) raw footage with no audio; Reigniting the Rivalry (18:52; HD) behind-the-scenes featurette; Billie Jean King: In Her Own Words (10:30; HD) interview the tennis legend; and some Galleries. Previews – Step, Gifted, Goodbye Christopher Robin, The Mountain Between Us |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Fox releases Battle of the Sexes onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. This is a mostly good looking picture with sharp detail, nicely bright colors and natural looking skin tones. Close-up shots are especially good and even some of the more distant ones are well defined. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The disc comes with a strong DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track which might be a bit much for a sports-drama and although a good portion of the movie those extra two channels aren’t exactly utilized, but still provide clear dialogue levels, the depth comes into play, so to speak, with the final tennis match when the crowd roars at the end of the match. Otherwise, surrounds are minimally used for ambient noises and the generic score. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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Overall, Battle of the Sexes isn’t as great as it could have been, but I did admire the performances from Emma Stone, Steve Carell and Andrea Riseborough, all deserving of award recognition. The Blu-ray released by Fox has great video, fine audio and a so-so selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.