Battle of the Sexes - Review

R: September 29th, 2017 | R: 121 minutes | R: PG-13

Battle of the Sexes takes viewers in the wake of the women’s movement during the early 1970s. Billie Jean King (Emma Stone) decides that she wants to bring equality to the sexist atmosphere of not just tennis but in general. She is challenged by the aging men’s tennis player and proclaimed chauvinist Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) to a match that became known as the Battle of the Sexes amidst her own personal challenge with her sexuality.

A new look at history is provided by this film as those who were not alive get to learn how Billie Jean King changed how women are viewed in the sports world and those who lived to see it firsthand get to experience nostalgia as well as confusion of how cramped the story gets. As usual the need for Hollywood to make things more flashy and interesting led to prominent events being left out about the female star and focus on the more ostentatious personality of Bobby Riggs.

I get what they were trying to do by showing just how showboated Riggs was but I felt like they could have cut it short and focused more on the accolades of King. Also the love affair between King and her hairdresser was depicted as this lovely, can’t live without you type of relationship is slightly confusing when in real life she ended up suing King when the fire burned out.

Despite these scenes with the over the top Riggs and love affair gone wrong but so right in the film, Emma Stone and Steve Carell did excellent with their roles. It was easy to feel immersed in the time period and see just how much things have changed and how they have not at the same time. The audience around me cheered and scoffed several times during the movie as if the action were happening live all over again.

It may have been some of their best roles yet and gets a thumbs up from me for the history lesson, however crammed it is.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Ashley (Senior Contributor) is an Orlando native who loves watching movies. Her favorite genres include comedies, thrillers and sci-fi.
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