In 1973, King (Emma Stone) is the champion of the Women's Tennis Circuit. She doesn't find it rewarding to get less than equal pay than the men. So she and several female tennis players start the Women's Tennis Association. Their victories make progress for the Women's Liberation Movement. Meanwhile, the married Billie's life gets complicated when she meets hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough).
Meanwhile, Riggs (Steve Carrell) is a gambling-addicted office drone who used to be a tennis pro. He decides to get back on top by proving man as the superior tennis player. He decides to challenge the top ranked Woman Tennis Player to an exhibition match, the eponymous “battle of the sexes.” He plays up the chauvinist pig angle like a badge of honor. It's only a matter of time before Billie finally accepts the challenge.
Both Stone and Carrell serve up capable performances as King and Riggs. Billie is as great an athlete as she is a person. We feel for her as she struggles for equal pay and sorts through her personal life. The dramatic unravelings in her life sting not just for her but for the audience. She doesn't take Bobby's challenge seriously and only does when she sees the misogyny he upholds. Her victory ends the film on a fine note.
Meanwhile, Bobby's first scene shows him in his lonely office job. Even though we see he has a wife (Elizabeth Shue) and chums, we still feel he has no one but his glorious past. There were times I thought he was only acting the part of a chauvinist (or greatly exaggerating it) because of the absurd lengths he goes to. He's at least more sympathetic than the announcer (Bill Pullman), whose misogyny is much blunter.
Amongst the supporting cast, Jessica McNamee stands out as Billie's fellow WTA player and rival Margaret Court. Alan Cumming is also great as the Association's fashion designer, Ted Tinling, as is Eric Christen Olsen as Bobby's coach, Lornie. Riseborough as Marilyn is endearing and Austin Stowell as Billie's husband Larry is OK.
The most striking feature is Linus Sandgren's cinematography, whose grainy colors makes it look like a film from the 70's. Even the Fox Searchlight logo is stylized like the Fox logo of the era. There's also Pamela Martin's editing which makes the dramatic moments tense and the games exciting. Nicholas Britell's score is as memorably melancholy as his soundtrack for Moonlight. The makeup artists also deserve attention for making Stone and Carrell into the splitting images of their real-life characters.
Battle of the Sexes spends a lot of time building up to the inevitable showdown. But the engaging cast kept me interested for its 121 minutes. It's a strong personal story as it is a sports story. Don't let this film fall by the wayside; see it if you can find it. They need the box-office, stat.
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