“Challengers” is a sports-romantic drama about a tennis player-turned-coach helping her champion husband get out of his recent slump by coaxing him to play in a lower-level challenger event. The situation becomes complicated when his opponent is her ex-boyfriend and his best friend from childhood. The love triangle drama and tennis court action proceeds from there, and is generally well managed by Italian director Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name” 2017) and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes.
However, Guadagnino allowed the film to go on too long, with extended scenes pushing the running time to 131 minutes. He could have easily removed twenty to thirty minutes out of the final cut. The cast does well enough, with good performances by Zendaya as the coach, Mike Faist as the husband, and Josh O’Connor as number three in the love triangle. Co-stars include Hailey Gates, Shane Harris, Nada Despotovich, AJ Lister, Naheem Garcia, Jake Jensen, and Darnell Appling as the umpire.
“Challengers” did have some success at the box office for producers Amy Pascal, Luca Guadagnino, and Zendaya, Why Are You Acting Productions, Frenesy Film Company, Pascal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Amazon MGM Studios. The outstanding soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score-Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Challengers (2024)
cinema
My Review
“Challengers” is a sports-romantic drama about a tennis player-turned-coach helping her champion husband get out of his recent slump by coaxing him to play in a lower-level challenger event. The situation becomes complicated when his opponent is her ex-boyfriend and his best friend from childhood. The love triangle drama and tennis court action proceeds from there, and is generally well managed by Italian director Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name” 2017) and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes.
However, Guadagnino allowed the film to go on too long, with extended scenes pushing the running time to 131 minutes. He could have easily removed twenty to thirty minutes out of the final cut. The cast does well enough, with good performances by Zendaya as the coach, Mike Faist as the husband, and Josh O’Connor as number three in the love triangle. Co-stars include Hailey Gates, Shane Harris, Nada Despotovich, AJ Lister, Naheem Garcia, Jake Jensen, and Darnell Appling as the umpire.
“Challengers” did have some success at the box office for producers Amy Pascal, Luca Guadagnino, and Zendaya, Why Are You Acting Productions, Frenesy Film Company, Pascal Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Amazon MGM Studios. The outstanding soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score-Soundtrack for Visual Media.