Peter Colt (Bettany) is a "wild card" entry in the Wimbledon tournament, which essentially means his chances of winning are extremely low. Ranked 119th in the world, Peter is at the end of his tennis career and plans on accepting a job as tennis director at a local country club, but only after one last attempt to be champion at Wimbledon.
Aside from the British, "Hugh Grant-esque" humor, the best part of the movie is Peter's inner monologues during his matches. At first I was skeptical of the concept because it reminded me of a Nike commercial, as if Peter was going to say something along the lines of, "I am Agassi" before serving an ace. However, these inner monologues contain some of the best one-liners and the most entertaining comments of the whole movie.
The minor characters are brilliant and add to the humor and core essence of the movie. All of these characters, especially Peter's parents and younger brother, help veer the movie away from being a tired romantic comedy because their support of Colt is just as important to his victories as is Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst).
"Wimbledon" follows Peter's career and personal story much more closely than Lizzie's, which is key to the movie's success not only because Dunst's character is relatively one-dimensional, but also because her acting was terrible. Lizzie is an aggressive, competitive daddy's girl who is the rising star in the world of women's professional tennis. Winning is everything to her and her confidence is slightly overbearing at times. In fact, I cannot help but think of her role in "Bring It On," where she plays a similarly competitive character who would go to any length in order to win the national cheerleading competition. She adheres to this determined attitude throughout most of the movie, and some of it even rubs off onto Peter. For example, before Peter competes against his confidant and practice buddy, Lizzie reminds him there's always "a loser and a winner, and one of you will be a loser." At best, Lizzie adds to the competitive sports aspect of the movie, while Peter and the supporting characters involved with his personal life carry the movie. Lizzie's main role in the movie is to act as Peter's lucky charm.
This movie was falsely advertised as a cheesy romance. Since I didn't cry, feel butterflies in my stomach or get the "awww, I want a boyfriend" feeling, this movie cannot be categorized as a chick flick. The required elements were simply not there. Peter and Lizzie's relationship does not build up to one climactic kiss; in fact, their relationship seems to take a quantum leap from slightly flirtatious to having sex. Also, instead of Lizzie being coquettish and allowing for a progressive flirtatious chase to occur, she is very forward and leaves no room for mystery. Peter and Lizzie drink champagne and wine on their "dates" from the very beginning of their relationship and have sex to release tension the night before matches. I guess the 48-hour rule doesn't apply to professional Wimbledon tennis players.
The true substance of the movie does not exist in the love story between Peter and Liz. Instead, the substance lies in the dreams of serious athletes of becoming the best, and the obstacles, both physical and mental, they must overcome. "Wimbledon" therefore reminded me more of a sports thriller like "Miracle" than it did a tear-jerking romance like "The Notebook." In other words, men should not fear that their masculinity will be challenged if they go to see it and even if they enjoy it.