Tennis Movies?

[Mdubb23]

After watching Hoosiers, Rudy, and Field of Dreams in a two-day span, and being amazed and awestruck at how inspiring they were, I just wondering why there aren't any famous tennis movies. I'm only thirteen, so I may be missing some classic ones, but has anyone besides me noticed that in tho last thirty years or so, there have not been any "classic" tennis movies made, and is really itching for one?

 

[Deleted member 25923]

There was a movie called Wimbledon, but it was more of a romantic love story.

 

[TokyopunK]

I can only think of:

Wimbledon
Prince of Tennis: Live Action Movie

 

[maverick66]

i can remeber one where a kid travels around with a coach in a car. im sure someone will recall it but besides that ive only seen wimbledon and tennis anyone? tennis anyone? was a indy movie from donald logue. kinda funny at moments but overall not that great.

 

[antgun007]

"when billie beat bobby" this is a true story of billie jean king beating bobby riggs. I am a film major, and for some odd reason my prof. made us watch it.

 

[SaunderS]

Wimbledon is an amazing movie. Its not just romance, but obviously, the good guy gets the dick head in the final I recommend

 

[scraps234]

prince of tennis and wimby...

 

[RoddickAce]

Wimbledon is an amazing movie. Its not just romance, but obviously, the good guy gets the dick head in the final I recommend

They even hired J-mac to be the commentator! And luckily, they didn't overdo the points, sure some of them were overly long, but at least the shots they pulled off were normal.

 

[edberg505]

i can remeber one where a kid travels around with a coach in a car. im sure someone will recall it but besides that ive only seen wimbledon and tennis anyone? tennis anyone? was a indy movie from donald logue. kinda funny at moments but overall not that great.

I think the movie you are referring to is " The Break".

There's a recent one out with Sean William Scott called "Balls Out".

 

[Steady Eddy]

"when billie beat bobby" this is a true story of billie jean king beating bobby riggs. I am a film major, and for some odd reason my prof. made us watch it.

Probably because some people think that that match helped launch feminism. (On the other hand, there is a good case that Riggs threw that match for $$$. It would be just like him. Consider that he beat Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1, who was a better player than BJK.)

In 1979 Dean Paul Martin starred in a movie, "Players". Pancho Gonzales played his coach. Alot of tour players had cameos. But now I can't even find it on Netflix.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

The level of tennis was much, much better in Players (1979) than the level shown in Wimbledon. The earlier movie starred Ali McGraw and Dino Martin (aka Dean Paul) , son of entertainer Dean Martin. Dino was primarily a singer/actor. However, he was quite athletic, a very accomplished tennis player & could have possible turned pro. I recall that he made one or more diving saves at the net in ths movie -- this was years before we saw Boris Backer do the same thing at Wimbledon (and other venues).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079723
.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

There was an animated short from a few years ago, New Balls Please. Another movie from the late '70s, Little Mo, was based on the life of tennis great, Maureen Connolly. (Not seen either of these).

Probably because some people think that that match helped launch feminism. (On the other hand, there is a good case that Riggs threw that match for $$$. It would be just like him. Consider that he beat Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1, who was a better player than BJK.)

The "case" that Riggs threw the match is kinda weak really. Riggs psyched out Court. BJK was no slouch -- she was ranked No.1 in the world five times between 1966-74 and was in Top 10 a total of 17 years (from the WTA site). Billie Jean King learned from Court's mistakes and modified her own game to adjust to Riggs' playing style.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Battle_of_the_Sexes_(tennis)

...

In 1979 Dean Paul Martin starred in a movie, "Players". Pancho Gonzales played his coach. Alot of tour players had cameos. But now I can't even find it on Netflix.

Not sure if the movie was ever released on DVD. It can possibly be found in the VHS format on Amazon: IMDb.com/title/tt0079723/sales

Couldn't find any video clips from Players but I did find a few of Dino Martin. He tragically died rather young (at 35) in 1987. He starred in a Sci-Fi comedy, Misfits of Science, with a young Courtney Cox (late teens).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjGlMWwP3Mc
.

 

[origmarm]

I think the movie you are referring to is " The Break".

I think I actually saw part of this. Sort of like a rubbish Karate Kid ....initially the coach wants to stop him playing but then starts to help for some reason. Didn't he do it for his girlfriend or something like that?

 

[Azzurri]

^^I believe it starred Vince Van Patten and some kid. It was not a bad movie if you are into tennis. correct Edberg505, it was "The Break"

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0112574/

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Don't recall where I saw him, but I recall that Vincent Van Patten, son of actor Dick Van Patten, was a pretty decent tennis player (much better than his dad). Didn't realize that he was on the ATP tour -- in the top 30 for both singles and doubles in the '80s.

Vincent Van Patten
.

 

[origmarm]

^^I believe it starred Vince Van Patten and some kid. It was not a bad movie if you are into tennis. correct Edberg505, it was "The Break"

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0112574/

According to the synopsis on that link my summary seems about right ....now if they can only get him to do "the crane" with a tennis racquet

 

[winks]

This tennis documentary apparently co-produced by Jim Courier sounds interesting. There is a funny comment quoted in the review made by Mats Wilander back in 2007.

Unstrung

 

[Azzurri]

According to the synopsis on that link my summary seems about right ....now if they can only get him to do "the crane" with a tennis racquet

trying to get a hold of it now....wish me luck!

I think Van Patten played a grumpy drunk or something coaching this kid. Is the Pro Staff in this movie??

 

[Steady Eddy]

The "case" that Riggs threw the match is kinda weak really. Riggs psyched out Court. BJK was no slouch -- she was ranked No.1 in the world five times between 1966-74 and was in Top 10 a total of 17 years (from the WTA site). Billie Jean King learned from Court's mistakes and modified her own game to adjust to Riggs' playing style.

At the time, the outcome of this match was held to support equality for women. I want to state that I believe women should have equal rights regardless of who was a better tennis player. But the way it is remembered is, as you say; BJK 'creamed' Riggs, while the Court/Riggs fiasco is explained away as being that Court got 'psyched out' and Riggs tennis skill deserves no credit. But I read the biography of Bobby Riggs, "The Last Sure Thing", and I got a different picture. I'll quote Joe Fishbach from page 369.

["Against Billie Jean he definitely threw it," he said. "I played tennis with him hundreds of times and there were three parts of his game that he never lost. One of them was the serve. People don't realize it, but he had a great serve, one of the best kick serves around-and he never double faulted. Against Billie Jean King he threw in a slew of double faults...It was so obvious it was laughable."]

What does the author think? The author, Tom LeCompte, stays with the conventional wisdom that Riggs really got beat. He argues on the grounds that Riggs never could have successfully laid off lots of money against himself without being discovered. That's very unconvincing. Riggs had lots of connections in the betting world, and he could have easily used lots of 'mules' for betting on BJK. I think the erroneous confusion of this match with feminism is what makes people dismiss the idea that Riggs threw the match. He's dead though, so we'll never know.

 

[MarrratSafin]

Wimbledon is an amazing movie. Its not just romance, but obviously, the good guy gets the dick head in the final I recommend

Yeah, second this. Wimbledon is awesome

 

[nadalfan!]

There's a new tennis movie called Balls Out!: The Gary Houseman Story. I saw parts of it and it's hilarious. I think it just came out on dvd recently.

 

[atatu]

I don't think there are really any good ones, but "Tennis Anyone", which came out on DVD recently was pretty funny, and if you watch it with the commentary on, you realize how autobiographical it is, pretty cool.

 

[goober]

Who can forget the movie Spring Fever with Carling Bassett? "A teenage comedy in the world of competitive tennis" . Sounds like it could have potential. Too bad it was terrible. LOL- I think I could only stand watching about 5 or 10 minutes of it before I had to change channels.

 

[origmarm]

trying to get a hold of it now....wish me luck!

I think Van Patten played a grumpy drunk or something coaching this kid. Is the Pro Staff in this movie??

Can't remember on the Pro Staff. If you get hold of it somehow you have to post a review for sure!

 

[LanEvo]

This tennis documentary apparently co-produced by Jim Courier sounds interesting. There is a funny comment quoted in the review made by Mats Wilander back in 2007.

Unstrung

know where i can watch this movie?

 

[edberg505]

There is also one called "Nobody's Perfect" staring Chad Lowe. Basically it's about a guy getting kicked off the male tennis team but then he dresses up as a girl to play on the girl's tennis team. I thought it was pretty good. I think it's on DVD too.