Battle of the Sexes
2017
***
Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Cast: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Alan Cumming, Eric Christian Olsen, Elisabeth Shue
In the early 1970s, Billie Jean King fights to win respect and fair pay for female tennis players. A gambling-addicted former pro Bobby Riggs playfully challenges her to an exhibition match to prove that even an out-of-shape 55-year-old man can beat the best female player in the world. The tongue of Bobby Riggs, as played by Steve Carell, is firmly in the cheek, so it feels odd that this easily digestible but formulaic biopic attempts to turn a silly show business moment into a great triumph for feminism. As for Billie Jean's personal life, Simon Beaufoy's screenplay takes great liberties with the time frame and views the gay rights of the 1970s through 21st century eyes.
