Later that same year....

Autumn seems to be a time of belated activity on the concert front but it also seems to have sparked off some restored interest in visiting the Cinema. You know, rainy day, not much to do and it just happens to be the cheap day at your local flea pit.

Borg/McEnroe was a title I was looking froward to for some time, particularly as it seemed that the choice of Shia LeBeouf as Mac the Mouth was well founded. Not having visited the 'Tyneside' for a while, it seemed the natural choice for a quiet afternoons' reflection on a 70s sporting phenomenon. 

The centre piece was the impending battle between Borg and McEnroe in the 1980 Wimbledon final and the film's journey was directed that way. Whilst LeBeouf seems to have got many plaudits for what was basically channelling his existing angst, the actor portraying Borg inevitably had less to say but was shown to have lots of hidden anxiety. It's what made Bjorn tick that attracted me about the film.

He comes across as a supersticious performer who liked to maintain a familiar Wimbledon routine relating to cars, practice and accomodation. He also seems to be something of a pressure cooker, bottling up all his feelings to the point where winning was everything. (Spoiler alert) When McEnroe was finally to remove Borg's Wimbledon crown the following year his mojo was on the way out and he'd more or less retired by the end of 1981. Perhaps McEnroe was always allowed to be John Patrick McEnroe but Borg was full of an inner turmoil that was to ultimately befriend the two competitors but end his career.

For me the film was just a shade too European, it could have been a celebration of two of tennis' finest players but like Mac it got a bit moody, if informative. Nice try.