Challengers

Challengers

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Grand Slam champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.

  • Released: 2023-09-15
  • Runtime: 131 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Romance
  • Stars: Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor, Darnell Appling, Nada Despotovich, Chris Fowler, Mary Joe Fernández, A.J. Lister, Doria Bramante, Christine Dye, Kevin Collins, Burgess Byrd, Naheem Garcia, Jake Jensen, Hailey Gates, Brad Gilbert, Shane T Harris, James Sylva, Jason Tong, Konrad Ryba
  • Director: Luca Guadagnino
 Comments
  • tallpurplepenguin - 30 June 2024
    Curiosity killed the cat
    And the cat was me. I saw Zendaya, suspense, and an awesome poster and decided to watch it. WHAT?!? Firstly, her character is vastly inconsistent, and her wants are shown (even to the viewer!) as selfish. The fact that she's a mother is sprinkled in where it's least needed and nowhere when it can and should impact her character. Secondly, the romance was confusing and strange. Zendaya's character is awful, and no matter how much life and sense Zendaya tries to breathe into her, she's not a good character. All in all, the movie is too confusing, relies too much on shots of tennis, has so many flashback scenes that you loose track of who is 'together' and the ending feels very confusing. This movie hops from theme to theme, from friendship, love, ambition; and is one giant meddled soup of disappointment. Watch if you love techno music. Like, you freakin' ADORE techno/electronica music.
  • MrDHWong - 20 June 2024
    A creatively uneven but mostly interesting love triangle that benefits greatly from the performances of its three leads
    "Challengers" is a sports drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino ("Call Me by Your Name", "Bones and All"). Starring Zendaya, Josh O'Connor, and Mike Faist, it is a creatively uneven but mostly interesting love triangle that benefits greatly from the performances of its three leads.

    In 2006, tennis playing best friends Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor) and Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) win the junior boys' doubles title at the US Open. Afterwards, the pair develop an attraction to up-and-coming tennis star Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), who later invites the two friends up to her hotel room. Although they don't end up sleeping with each other, Tashi promises to give her phone number to whoever wins in a match against each other, with Patrick later emerging as the victor. Over time, the two friends drift apart as each of them pursue different professional tennis-related paths, culminating in Patrick and Tashi's relationship deteriorating and Art stepping in to take his place. Thirteen years later, Tashi and Art have since married with her acting as her husband's coach while Patrick is struggling to get by financially. With Art on a losing streak and Patrick wishing to regain the spotlight, the two former friends soon find themselves playing against one another at the New Rochelle Challenger event, causing Tashi to question where her loyalty truly lies.

    Throughout most works of romantic fiction, the "love triangle" trope has played an important role in many stories, ranging from classic literature to modern cinema. The basic appeal of this storytelling technique can be found in the way it addresses the audience's anticipation over which suitor the object of affection will end up choosing at the expense of the loser's humiliation. In addition to this, many people in the real world have found themselves involved in such a predicament, which makes this scenario all the more relatable to the general public. The film "Challengers" features a love triangle rivalry between a former tennis player and two tennis playing friends in a film that shows us the competitive nature of this relationship both on and off the courts.

    Told in a non-linear format, the film begins by introducing us to Art and Tashi, a tennis power couple whose long-lasting celebrity status is beginning to wane. Thanks to the coaching advice given to him by Tashi, she and Art have become recognisable faces around the world, but the couple's legacy is now in jeopardy due to Art's advancing age and the recent injuries he has sustained. It is made clear to the audience that the once unbeatable Art has failed to win a single match in years, with his reputation now riding on this new "Challenger" event. We are then shown that Art's first opponent will be his former best friend Patrick, whose poor decision making has led to him sleeping in his car and getting by on winning tennis matches at minor circuits. What makes this matchup so interesting isn't just the fact that these two were once the best of friends, but that they each shared a mutual infatuation with Tashi.

    Flashing back thirteen years earlier, we see how close the pair were during their youth, with their bond soon tested by their shared interest in pursuing a relationship with Tashi. As a result, a fierce competitive urge arises within both friends, leading to an eventual falling out over who will end up with Tashi. Three years later, the film shows how both Art and Patrick are dealing with the pressure of making it big in the world of tennis while also coping with the idea that only one of them will win Tashi's affections. Although she chooses to be with Art, Tashi still finds herself having a one night stand with Patrick while he is in town, something that Art discovers later to his great displeasure. I enjoyed watching the way the film shows the erosion of Art and Patrick friendship over the course of their respective careers while Tashi's dilemma of longing for both of them proves equally distracting. In doing so, it gives off the impression that Tashi's huge influence over the pair's inability to make rational decisions is the true catalyst towards placing them at a perfect stalemate for their final showdown.

    Like in many of his previous films, director Luca Guadagnino inserts a number of homoerotic overtones into the friendship between the two male characters. For instance, during the scene where Art and Patrick are fooling around with Tashi, she tricks the pair into making out without her involvement. Upon discovering this, rather than stop right away, the two continue passionately kissing for a bit longer before pulling away begrudgingly. Also, during one scene with the two friends watching a tennis game, Patrick peels a banana and eats it suggestively while staring into Art's eyes. I'm not sure if this is Guadagnino's way of showing how close these two really are or if it's just his attempt at being artistic for the sake of it, but it doesn't really add much to the story beyond something unintentionally comedic. Then again, I suppose it does make their vying for Tashi's attention slightly more intriguing.

    As mentioned earlier, the film's storytelling structure is non-linear, which yields mixed results in the narrative department. In keeping with the tennis theme, the film often cuts back and forth between different time periods, almost like a tennis ball being repeatedly hit over a net by two players. At first, I actually liked this creative decision, as the fast pacing meant the film always had something happening on screen to prevent a scene from dragging on too long, but over time the concept became rather annoying. This is due to the fact that the film shows us four different years (2006, 2009, 2011, 2019) throughout the whole story, and the constant cutting from one year to another made it tricky to keep up with what event was taking place at what particular time. If the film had just two years instead of four, this editing technique may have worked better, because trying to stay invested with all the frequent jumping between multiple time periods is just as exhausting as playing a tennis match itself.

    For a character like Tashi, it's interesting to see how Zendaya shows how conflicted she is at choosing between her two potential suitors. At first, Tashi seems to lust over them just as much as they do for her, but as the film progresses she becomes more focused on long term prospects. Though she does end up choosing Art based solely on him being at the right place at the right time, it is clear she still has lingering feelings for Patrick, especially when he suddenly reappears after such a long time. No matter how hard she tries to fight it, Tashi would obviously choose to be with both if there were a practical way of making this happen.

    Additionally, there is definitely solid chemistry between Josh O'Connor and Mike Faist as Patrick and Art, respectively. You really get the sense that these two skilled tennis players have known each other since childhood, and despite their heated rivalry in winning over Tashi, they still retain a notable level of respect among themselves. I personally found Patrick the most interesting out of the two due to how much harder he has to work to make something of himself, as opposed to Art, who owes a great deal of his success to good timing. Regardless, I was never bored watching how each of their lives unfolded upon meeting Tashi for the first time.

    Although some of its odd creative decisions may prove off-putting to some, "Challengers" is nonetheless an entertaining love triangle that works thanks to its believable cast and quick pacing. It's hard not to be at least a tiny bit curious as to how this saga of in-fighting, betrayal, and desire to be the best can take its toll on our three main characters, especially over the course of more than a decade. Best of all, you don't even need to be a fan of tennis to understand and appreciate how the film cleverly implements its numerous related metaphors and symbolism intended to parallel the situations of this trio of players. Coming from someone who doesn't watch tennis at all, that alone is quite admirable in my eyes.

    I rate it 7.5/10.
  • dannyboyster - 14 June 2024
    i came for the tennis but got a headache instead
    Technically from a tennis point of view, the movie tries to be authentic and both actors probably do play tennis in their spare time but as a tennis junkie i expected more. I do get that Zweig's waiter's tray serve is probably one the main reasons he hasn't been able to rise beyong the challenger tour but Donaldson, as a true ATP tour player, should have displayed more technically sound techniques.

    From a story perspective it was very hard to follow. I've never been a fan of movies where the scene jumps back and forth in time but some movies manage to pull it off well. This wasn't it.

    Stay away from this if you haven't watched it yet. On the other hand they should have waited to release this in June. Might have done better.
  • tylerwoodrownichols - 9 June 2024
    Luca serves up more mediocrity
    Luca Guadagnino is in a somewhat unenviable position, having directed such a widely-beloved movie as Call Me By Your Name. It was my favorite film of the 2010s, no contest. I've wanted to love his output since then, but it's all been a bit disappointing. The Suspiria remake was a wholly unnecessary embarrassment. Bones And All was much better but was still missing a certain je ne sais quoi that prevented it from being a truly great film. And now there's Challengers, which in my estimation sits somewhere between them.

    I found this movie incredibly boring and the nonlinear structure somehow made it much worse. I'm not sure why he thought that structure would serve this story since there aren't really any twists to conceal and the characters each appear to be completely static over the course of 2006-2019. I'm not sure I've known anyone IRL with such little personal evolution over 16 years! I can't tell if he was trying to say something with that or if it was just lazy writing, but either way it made for a dull viewing experience.

    When the characters kissed on the bed I was thinking it was going to lead to some bizarre ménage à trois, which would have made for a much more interesting story. Instead it's just another bland love triangle between three completely unlikeable people. The ending is beyond stupid, but I won't spoil anymore than I already have for anyone who insists on watching this.

    Please Luca, make another good film. I know you can do it.