CHALLENGERS

From Italian director Luca Guadagnino comes the story of a love triangle between 3 tennis proteges: Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), and best friends Art Donaldson (Mike Faist), and Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor). The story bounces back-and-forth between the present and the past, opening with Art married and sharing a child with Tashi, coming back from an injury but who's career is skating on thin ice. In order to boast his confidence, he agrees to play in a challenger event against inferior opponents. Patrick, having never made an impact in the sport and broke, needs to money while hoping he can still win and get a spot on the tour. Naturally they play each other in the finals and their interconnected story involving themselves and Tashi unfolds. The film starts out well with an intriguing setup and a little faux tennis to keep the audience awake; although by the end, its time has definitely expired and should have known when to throw in the towel. The cast was average, with no one really standing out much except Zendaya who is the biggest name on the poster and out of the three gave the best performance. In addition, Guadagnino, unwisely, choose a few times to have a camera act as a tennis ball while Art and Patrick play. I don't get motion sickness but I could easily see how others could while watching this unnecessary setup. The film had potential but ultimately lost it 2/3 of the way in. 6/10