Wimbledon (2004)

Having come back from four days at Wimbledon this year, it felt like the right time to once again re-watch this fluffy British rom-com which I must have seen at least ten times now.

It's difficult to pinpoint exactly why this has been re-watched so many times, the obvious possibility being that I love Wimbledon. But the film gets so many things factually wrong it's unforgivable.

It surrounds veteran Brit player Peter Colt (Paul Bettany) playing in his last tournament before retirement, falling in love with Lizzy Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst) an American top five player on the rise, and their relationship over the tournament's fortnight. It's a set up that breeds potential without doubt, and the rom-com pieces of the film are played well and perfectly gently.

But to set it amongst the backdrop of one of the world's favourite tournaments, you'd think the basic truths of the event would be fact checked and correctly applied.

We begin bizarrely with the sight of doubles matches being played on day one (they don't begin until at least day three); Colt announces his first-round match is on Court Seventeen (it's Court Eight) and his second round is supposedly played on Court Two (it's actually Court Three). He heads straight from round three to the Quarter Finals, so one can only presume that they've completely forgotten about the fourth round.

Now obviously these are details that don't actually matter a jot, especially to those who aren't interested in Wimbledon or tennis, but the actual tennis itself is embarrassing. Bettany and Dunst supposedly underwent lessons to give the film a more authentic feel, but the CGI footage of the sport is laughably bad throughout the film.

But in the end the film is saved by the presence of Wimbledon itself, even if it's used badly, and Bettany and Dunst are very likeable characters, supported by Sam Neil, James McAvoy and Jon Favreau.

Wimbledon is completely harmless, and if you only know the very basics of the sport and the tournament this is a perfectly serviceable rom-com, also with cameos from John McEnroe, Chris Evert and John Barrett, all of which you can assume were paid to star briefly as themselves and never actually watch the film itself. 6.2/10