Battle of the Sexes takes us back to 1973, when self-styled male chauvinist pig Bobby Riggs (played by Steve Carell) takes on women's tennis star Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) in a circus act of a tennis match that fit into King's battle for equal treatment for women on the tennis tour. The casting is brilliant, as both Stone and Carell are entirely convincing in their roles. We see some turmoil in each of their lives, as Carell struggles with pretending to try to give up his gambling addiction, leading to marriage trouble, and Stone finds herself exploring her sexual identity after meeting an alluring woman (her hairdresser), leading to doubts about her marriage. I found the characters compelling and sympathetic, even though King never really opens up to either of her partners about how she really feels, and Riggs is a scoundrel who doesn't really deserve any affection or admiration. The tennis scenes seemed very authentic to me (stunt doubles?), and the action moved along well. Some of the comments made by men in the film (including some archival footage of Howard Cosell) were cringe-inducing, reminding us how recently such denigrating views of women's role in society were commonplace. This is a pretty good movie.
TIFF 2017 Overview
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