Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival September 11,2017
a film by Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine)
Plot(Spoiler Alert)
The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World No. 1 Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.
The real Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs
Blaine: Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire & 127 Hours) thought that the story of the 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs was an amazing combination of sport, politics and an extraordinary personal journey which to him had everything you could ever want to write about. He spent a lot of time with Billie Jean King while doing his research for the script and it was a great privilege for both him and the filmmakers that she allowed them to tell this story. Billie Jean King did a lot to try and gain equality for the women tennis players. She also took tennis very seriously.
One of the producers, Danny Boyle, had met with Emma Stone and then she had met the directors and they were telling her about this project they were going to do called “Battle of the Sexes”. Emma wasn’t familiar with the story of the tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, but she loved the script and she had researched it after that. Emma Stone said that the film helps show people who are not familiar with Billie Jean King that she is a hero and icon for fighting for women. Emma Stone felt pressure playing a role like this because she has never played a real life historian before, but it helped that the real Billie Jean King visited on set a lot and spent time with Emma. Emma had done weight lifting and had learned how to play tennis which she has never done before. She gained 15 LBS. of muscle. Emma said she wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for the support of the people around her. Emma also went through some old footage of Billie Jean King playing tennis and interviews. Emma played some tennis with Billie herself. Billie would be throwing tones of balls at Emma.
Co-director Jonathan Dayton had contacted Steve Carell and asked him if he could play Bobby Riggs. Steve was all in favor of doing it after they mentioned that he would be posing naked for a photoshoot in the movie. Steve got to work with Bobby’s coach and good friend and for three months he would learn how to play tennis. They would talk about Bobby a lot and Steve found him to be very interesting. Bobby Riggs was a hustler, he loved the action, he was a gambling addict, but he was also a good person and both he and Billie became good friends after the tournament.
“Battle of the Sexes” is also a love affair movie because Billie Jean King is realizing that she has a huge attraction for women and it starts off when she is getting her hair done by a woman named Marilyn Barnett. The thing is Billie’s already married to a man named Larry King, whom she did love when she married him, but then her interests had wandered after she met Marilyn. Marilyn Barnett passed away so actress Andrea Riseborough had to find out how she was going to perform as an existing person. She felt pressure because she wanted to honor this woman. Marilyn was a big part of Billie Jean King’s life for a while. She had nothing but love for Billie, she felt that she could be herself around Billie and she thought she was really interesting and inspiring to women. Andrea was moved by all that and thought it was beautiful as well.
My friend Sheri watched a HBO documentary on Billie Jean King and she told me that Billie was pregnant before playing Bobby and she got an abortion, but they didn’t put it in the film. Sheri says the reason they didn’t add it to the movie was because maybe they wanted the movie to focus more on the tennis match. There are movies, like “Battle of the Sexes”, that make you feel like you are watching a real championship game and even though I knew Billie Jean King was going to win her match with Bobby Riggs I was still rooting for her to win. Billie Jean King cried after her match with Bobby Riggs was over and I think the reason why is because she is very proud of what she has accomplished and has shown a power for women.
My rating on “Battle of the Sexes” is five out of five stars.
