Wimbledon (2004)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Richard Loncraine

Writers (WGA):

Adam Brooks (written by) and
Jennifer Flackett (written by) ...

Release Date:

17 September 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

She's the golden girl. He's the longshot. It's a match made in...

Plot:

A pro tennis player has lost his ambition and has fallen in rank to 119. Fortunately for him, he meets a young player on the women's circuit who helps him recapture his focus for Wimbledon.

Plot Keywords:

Tennis | Tennis Player | Wimbledon | American | German

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Kirsten Dunst	...	Lizzie Bradbury
Paul Bettany	...	Peter Colt
Kyle Hyde	...	Monte Carlo Opponent
Robert Lindsay	...	Ian Frazier
Celia Imrie	...	Lydice Kenwood
Penny Ryder	...	Sylvia Littlejohn
Annabel Leventon	...	Pauline Rossdale
Amanda Walker	...	Country Club Tennis Lady
James McAvoy	...	Carl Colt
Bernard Hill	...	Edward Colt
Eleanor Bron	...	Augusta Colt
Marina Morgan	...	Dorchester Receptionist
Barry Jackson	...	Danny Oldham
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau	...	Dieter Prohl
Sam Neill	...	Dennis Bradbury

Also Known As:

La plus belle victoire (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language, sexuality and partial nudity.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #40763) | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Czech Republic:12 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Hong Kong:IIA (DVD rating) | Netherlands:MG6 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) (2004) | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Church Road, Wimbledon, London, England, UK

Company:

Firstep Productions

Trivia:

The scenes showing the public queuing up outside Wimbledon were in fact shot outside London's Zoo, simply because it looks more interesting.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In Colt's second round match against Dragomir (played by Murphy Jensen) his voiceover claims that he only won 3 games, however the umpire clearly states that Dragomir leads 3 games to 2 and by 2 sets to 1. This means that Colt had to have won at least 8 games by this point.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Peter Colt: [voiceover] We all start off in life with a dream, don't we? For a tennis player, it's being in the final of a Grand Slam, Centre Court, a high lob... a smash. Game, set and match. You're a champion. You're number one. But for most tennis players, that's all it ever is: a dream...

Movie Connections:

References "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Stay Don't Go

Serviceable Romantic Comedy

"Wimbledon" is another one of those agreeable, English-flavored romantic comedies which in years past would have starred a stammering Hugh Grant. This time the principals are professional tennis players and the setting is Wimbledon. Paul Bettany makes for a good romantic lead in the Grant mold without the latter's sometimes annoying cloying and also is convincing as a tennis player at the tail end of his career. But Kirsten Dunst, the love interest, while giving a very likable performance, does not look her part. She also is not helped by the screenplay, which does not present her as a particularly compelling match. In fact, the character seems more like one that usually would be set up as the rival, missing the elements of the "intended". Further causing the film to come across less than compelling: Every character, save one, is nice, making it nearly conflict-free. Not a waste of time, but nothing memorable, "Wimbledon" is a tension-free, pick-me-up: The movie equivalent of a lightly-flavored carbonated water: effervescent, but lacking any distinct taste.