There is no sport more intimate or erotic than tennis. It is one of the few major sports where two players agree to partake, for hours, in a duel of body, mind, and soul. Naturally, to engage with anyone that intensely, an inescapable relationship is forged— one that intensifies with every stroke, every bead of sweat, every grunt. It may not be as fleshy as boxing, but arguably the lack of contact is what makes tennis more arousing— is not…
The visual storytelling is bonkers, the first 40ish minutes of the movie is arguably some of Spielberg’s most compelling work. Maybe the movie that best understood post 9/11 paranoia and hysteria, but also where it seems to stumble over its own ideas.
I can’t fucking believe they kept making these after how perfectly this one ended.
That one sequence. You’ll know it when you see it. Magnum opus type scene. Spirit awakening type scene. Inspirational, foundational, monumental.
