The Stream: Like many movies these days, this one could have cut 15 minutes or so.

The Big Screen: The tennis is filmed with cool shots; and the soundtrack and score are filled propulsive.

The Final Bill: A fun and sexy sports movie filled with tension and an outstanding cast.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Luca Guadagnino
Writers: Justin Kuritzkes
Stars: Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O’Connor
Genre: Drama, Romance, Sport
Rating: R for language throughout, some sexual content and graphic nudity
Runtime: 2 hours 6 minutes
Production Companies: MGM, Pascal Pictures
Platform: In theaters April 26, 2024
Notable Trailers: Deadpool & Wolverine, Trap, Kinds of Kindness,

What’s up, Streamers?!? What do you get when you put Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor in a dingy hotel room? You get a great scene in the new movie, Challengers, which was released in theaters this weekend. Luca Guadagnino directs the trio in this high stakes sports drama filled with romantic maneuvering, sexy posturing and lots of tennis. Here’s whether this film was an ace.

In Challengers, Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) is a tennis prodigy on her way to being one of the greats in the sport. Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor) and Arthur Donaldson (Mike Faist) are best friends and rival tennis players, who meet Tashi at US Open as juniors. Patrick and Art vie for Tashi’s affection and attention, which leads to a fissure in their relationship. Challengers tells the story of Tashi, Patrick and Art’s relationship between two time periods – their initial meeting as teenage up-and-coming tennis players and 13 years later at a climactic final match between Patrick and Art at a challenger tournament. Serving, volleying and cat-and-mouse foreplay hijinks ensue.

Challengers is a really entertaining movie both as a sports drama and as a romantic thriller. Justin Kuritzkes wrote a screenplay that has interesting characters placed in very tense situations while Guadagnino heightens the story with his directorial flourishes. There are some very cool shots of the characters playing tennis. The movie puts the audience right in the middle of the action. While the actions scenes get you on the edge of your seat, the dramatic scenes between the main trio of characters do just as much as those tennis matches. Speaking of which, the cast is excellent. Zendaya goes from sweet and alluring to calculating and chilly. She, of course, is magnetic on screen. Josh O’Connor masters the messiness of his character while Mike Faist plays off of Zendaya and O’Connor well. O’Connor and Faist ooze charisma and are able to match Zendaya’s star power. The three have great chemistry together and bounce off of each other’s energy like the tennis balls flying all over the court.

Two more points: The music throughout this movie is so interesting. It is at first pretty jarring, but eventually, it becomes almost like a character itself. The soundtrack and score are propulsive and perfectly compliment all of the action on screen – both the tennis and the romantic manipulation. Lastly, this movie is over 2 hours, but it definitely could have been cut down about 15 minutes. The current length is good and entertaining throughout, but it doesn’t need to be this long.

Ultimately, Challengers is an entertaining movie. It may be a little long, but it is never boring. The actors have great chemistry with each other and bring the tension both on and off the tennis court. Also, the soundtrack is surprisingly awesome, a little distracting but cool, nonetheless. You should enjoy this match with a big box of popcorn.