'Battle of the Sexes' is a pleasure. The biographical sports film, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is loosely based on the famous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, and it's really good.
Emma Stone (who can basically do no wrong on the screen, as far as I'm concerned) pretty much channels BJK, a la Streep, and Steve Carell (who is really a very good actor) puts in a performance that is at once funny and a little heart-breaking. In real life, Bobby Riggs often came off as more of a cartoon character than anything else, but Carell definitely humanizes him here, which is no small task. The rest of the cast, including Sarah Silverman, does a great job with what they have to work with.
I also love when a period pic gets it right with the look and feel of the time, and this one totally does. It's pitch-perfect as a time-travel trip to the early part of the "Me Decade".
The movie isn't just about a battle of the sexes on the tennis court, it's also about King coming to terms with her own sexual orientation in real life, and that part of the story is handled with a kind of sensitivity that I personally could relate to, and found to be very moving. Anyone from the LGBT community who knows what it's like to honestly and sincerely spend the majority of your life trying to be something that you're not because you think it's the right thing to do, and because of the people in your life and because of the pressure of public opinion will get this movie on a very deep level...especially anyone who was married to the opposite sex and really loved and respected their spouse, and never wanted to hurt them. The way the movie handles King's relationship with her husband at the time, and the way that he is portrayed in the story is quite inspirational (and there's a happy ending for them in the end credits)...
Btw, women should make the same that men make for doing the same job.
Good flick. Good message.
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