After seeing A Knight’s Tale a few years ago I made the bold prediction that Paul Bettany was going to be a major star. Then came his fantastic performance in A Beautiful Mind and I thought all everything was going as planned. Then poof… he basically disappeared. Now here he is in his first legitimate Hollywood leading role as a 31 year old washed up tennis player in Wimbledon. Peter Colt (Bettany) was once ranked 11th in the world but now sits at 157th. This Wimbledon is going to be his last. But a chance meeting with young rising star Lizzie Bradbury (Kristen Dunst) Helps him find his passion for the game again… and passion for life.
What Wimbledon does well outweighs what is does poorly… a little. As expected, Bettany was wonderful. He reminded me a lot of Hugh Grant. He has the same charm and wit that Grant carries (maybe not quite as well yet), and can pull off a dramatic scene with relative easy. He was easily the main force behind the film and was basically the catalyst behind everything that went right with the movie. On the other side was Kristen Dunst who was… as she usually is… weak. I’m not saying she was terrible… but I’ve yet to be impressed with any of her performances (even Spide-Man 2). Admittedly, the character she was playing was a difficult one. Lizzy is supposed to be sexy, sweet and feminine while at the same time brash, aggressive and volatile. Any actress would have found the role challenging… but I was hoping to see more from Dunst who often felt awkward, forced and a touch stale. Once again, she wasn’t terrible… but she wasn’t impressive either.
Unlike most romantic comedies, the supporting cast in this film were all rather strong. One pleasant surprise for me was the presence of King Theoden himself, Bernard Hill, who plays Bettany’s father.
Wimbledon also carries it’s share of eye rolling cheese. There are just as many awful lines in the script as there are clever ones, and as in many romantic comedies, the romance between the two main characters felt quite artificial and completely forced. Too bad.
Overall, Wimbledon meet my expectations without meeting my hopes. Bettany should still be a major star soon. Give this one a shot on a Tuesday Night sometime. I give Wimbledon a half decent 5/10.
