“battle of the sexes” movie review

I remember rooting for Billie Jean King to beat that male chauvinist pig, Bobby Riggs, during their 1973 exhibition match yet I found myself feeling the urgency of her winning even more strongly watching Battle of the Sexes, the fictionalized movie about the two tennis legends.

I was 14 during the original must-watch-TV match and, although I was a devout feminist who believed wholeheartedly in women’s lib, I don’t think I had any clue at the time of just how brave and important King’s efforts really were.

Watching her fight the system in Battle of the Sexes was eye-opening and surprisingly emotional, thanks to a powerful performance by Emma Stone.

I cringed as she — at 29, the most successful woman in sports — was called “little lady” and crowned Queen for a Day. Although she good-naturedly went along with it, knowing she had to choose her battles, she also fought hard for women tennis players to get paid equally to the men.

When she approached Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) on that subject, saying the women were selling just as many tickets as the men, he told her they weren’t in the same league and that “it’s just biology.” I wanted to smack the smirk off his misogynistic face. Disgusted, King started the Women’s Tennis Association, resulting in Kramer kicking her and the players who went along with her, out of the USLTA.

It’s so inspiring to watch the women get their big sponsor, Virginia Slims, thanks to Gladys Heldman (Sarah Silverman), founder of World Tennis Magazine and all-around mother hen to the women on tour. It’s a bit jarring watching her encourage them to smoke and support their sponsor but, hey, you’ve come a long way, baby.

I don’t need to tell you the whole story but what makes Battle of the Sexes so important and so sadly relevant is that the tennis is actually the least of it. The biggest battles King and Riggs (Steve Carell) face are personal. They take place off the court and have little to do with each other.

Riggs is a washed-up clown at 55, battling a gambling addiction and a crumbling marriage. Carell does a nice job with the role but because Riggs was already a caricature at that time, it’s hard to feel too deeply for him.

Battle of the Sexes is King’s story, and the battles she faced must have felt insurmountable to her. In many ways, they still feel that way.

King finds herself falling in love with hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough), a relationship that is portrayed so beautifully but is so ridden with guilt and shame not just because King was married to a man at the time but because this was the 1970s.

“Someday we will be free to be who we are and to love who we love,” the similarly-closeted team uniform designer (Alan Cummings) assures her. “Times change. You should know — you just changed them.”

But, obviously, they have not changed enough. Four decades later, everything King fought so hard for — Title IX, women’s equality, LGBTQ rights — is being threatened. And, in a scene whose timely significance the filmmakers never could have predicted, “Rocket Man” plays while King is driving in her car. It brings us right into the present day, fighting an administration that’s made up of arrogant, entitled Jack Kramer clones.

Battle of the Sexes is a reminder that we can beat them.