Allan Watched "Challengers"
Chaotically filmed and never dull, Challengers is infuriatingly captivating through every twist and turn.
No Winners Here
There is a ton to like about Challengers if you can get pasting its dizzying pace, distracting product placement, countless time jumps, flailing limbs, and the overall hatred you will feel towards three main subjects for most of the film. The modern twist of a love triangle between Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O’Connor), and Art (Mike Faist) is impossible to look away from, but it is hard to determine if any of them are not trash humans. The frustratingly non-linear telling of how the three of them pass each other around from when they were youth tennis standouts until they are adults, culminating in a match between Patrick and Art that means both nothing and everything, is loaded with memorable scenes, but I just can’t stand those three humans.
Art, second fiddle turned tennis superstar is the most likable. He also has to suffer through being married to one of the great villains of the year, Tashi, but mostly he mopes around and is too easily swayed by his two loves to really root for him. Tashi is a legit monster. Her villainous origin story starts with her as the next big tennis star but she is resigned to being her husband's coach. She marries him after already dating his best friend, Patrick, and dumping him, setting Patrick off to be a loser with not much to play for as he wastes his talent. Patrick overall is just a manipulative broken man who has a hold on the other two. By the end, as they set up this grand conclusion to a poorly played tennis match, I made the decision I didn’t care who won because they all suck.
Mixed Bag Movie Making
The great Alan Sepinwall has written in great detail about his disdain for non-linear storytelling because it is usually used as a crutch when the story is not strong enough. Challengers is somewhat an example of this because I do think the story is strong, but if you lined everything up in order, it wouldn’t work. Too much of the tension relies on showing you a flashback of a key plot point and setting up the “hammer drop” moments again and again, and it eventually becomes tiresome. The line “Does he know about Atlanta?” and then smash-cutting to that scene in the past was enough to make me want to throw in the towel on the format.
The film is shot beautifully, though, by the great cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom (Call Me By Your Name, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives). It is hard to make a sports movie feel fresh, but his inventive ways of capturing the action are magnificent. I wish the tennis playing was more believable, and they may have needed more supporting producers to make the gameplay feel more real, but I have to accept that the tennis is very much secondary here.
Tashi and the Music
Zendaya and the soundtrack are the clear standouts here. She was rightfully nominated for a Golden Globe, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails elevated the film beautifully with their music bed. They deserved their Golden Globe for Best Original Score, and are easily the front runners at the Oscars.
For Zendaya, it was a role that she said she was excited to take, because it is the first film that strays away from the “teenage sweetheart”, and me saying Tashi is a monster is actually a testament to how she brought her to life. Tashi is ruthless, addicted to winning, and cutting in every scene. Zendaya is one of the great superstars of her generation for a reason.
Random Thoughts
Faist and O’Connor have great chemistry. They love each other, whether it is fully sexual or not, they are friend soulmates, and you feel it. I think their characters as individuals lack the depth Tashi has, but again, this is a movie about Tashi being a terror to society.
I cannot watch Faist without thinking about the Emmy-winning performance of “You Will Be Found” by the original cast of Dear Evan Hanson on the Today Show. He of course was a huge part of the show's success as the original Connor Murphy.
O’Connor has about four faces in the entire movie. Not saying they don’t work, but he just smirks at every big moment.
They did the early 2000s proud here. Nothing says the early aughts like Nelly at a high school party, and nothing beat going Applebees for half-price apps.
The three stars practiced tennis for three months leading up to the filming. It is safe to say they needed more practice.
The knee injury scene hurt my body.
Rare to see a movie start with just a bunch of sweaty eyebrows before the first title card. It was jarring.
The soundtrack is really brilliant, and that is saying a lot because…::whispers:: Nine Inch Nails is super boring.
2024 was the year of the horny movie, but this has to be the horniest.
Challengers also wins the award for most product placement. It is kicked off with the Athletic Greens shot in the beginning, and it feels like a giant commercial right to the end.
Quick Hits
How many times have I seen this movie?
First time, and honestly last time.
Where was I watching it?
In my office with a nice mug of sleepy-time peach tea.
Favorite trivia about the movie
Writer Justin Kuritzkes, who had a great 2024 writing both this and Queer, got the idea for the movie while watching the famous 2018 U.S. Open final between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. That final was memorable for a few reasons: 1. Williams got a penalty for getting tips from her coach during the match (which was part of the spark for the film). 2. It was Williams' first final after a year off after having her first child. 3. Osaka was the first Japanese woman to contest a Grand Slam final, and the first Japanese male or female to win a Grand Slam title.
Favorite part
The “early days” scenes of Art and Patrick playing tennis are a joy.
Least favorite part
The first ten minutes are not good. I thought I was going to hate the film. There is no dialog for the first five minutes, but not in an artistic way. They do establish Tashi and Art are married and not happy, which is important, but their kid literally asks to watch “The Spiderverse”, which is way too on the nose for a film that is supposed to be good. We get it, Zendaya is in Spider-Man.
Would I recommend this movie?
I guess. It is very much in the zeitgeist and has some iconic scenes, but just be ready for a lot of jump cuts, male genitalia, and evilness.
So What Does Allan Give It?
One Thumbs Up. Overall, a score of 67. It is a lot to handle, but it is a worthy watch, despite the horrible tennis playing.
