McEnroe

Barney Douglas’s new documentary about the celebrated tennis player offers fresh insights.

The most famous matches of the tennis star John McEnroe took place as long ago as 1980 and 1984 respectively but his fame does not fade. He has assisted in that by writing two books of autobiography, but it is also the case that filmmakers have chosen to keep his legend alive. In 2015 Janus Metz gave us a feature film starring Sverrir Gudnason and Shia LaBeouf which built up to the Wimbledon tournament of 1980, that being Borg vs. McEnroe. Three years later came one of the most remarkable of all sports documentaries in the form of John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection in which Julien Faraut studied McEnroe's style of playing through an intellectual prism: the 1984 match against the Czech Ivan Vendl was part of the focus there but so was a psychological analysis of McEnroe offered by Dr Cédric Quignon-Fleuret.

With so much coverage out there already, you might assume that this new documentary by Barney Douglas was superfluous, but not so. This is a highly accomplished work which, in contrast to its forerunners, is able to blend considerable archive material from all phases of McEnroe’s life with detailed fresh comments from the man himself, now aged sixty-three. McEnroe appears on screen both as an interviewee and as a figure walking at night as he ruminates on his past. He is quite ready to acknowledge what a great player he was (the world would not disagree) but, having also been famous for outspoken, moody behaviour that caused him to be dubbed a superbrat, he willingly faces up to his faults and discusses the factors that contributed to them.

The new footage here includes contributions from other notable tennis players including Billie Jean King and the man who initially was his great rival but would become his friend, Björn Borg. The latter’s calm manner on the court, such a stark contrast to McEnroe’s uncontrolled outbursts, renders comparisons between the two men all the more fascinating. On the personal level, the film includes comments from John McEnroe's brothers Mark and Patrick while his relationship with his father also plays an important role. His first wife, the actress Tatum O'Neal, does not appear but his second, the singer Patty Smyth, offers her own insights into her husband, the bad boy whom she regards as a good man.

The main skill of filmmaker Barney Douglas is to have achieved an adroit balance between the images (much of the time consisting of archive devoted to McEnroe's career) and the comments now being made, especially those by McEnroe himself, often heard in voice over. One wonders if the documentaries of Asif Kapadia were an influence in this respect. With so much ground to cover, it is perhaps not surprising that certain aspects get limited coverage including McEnroe's later appearances on the courts. Equally the collapse of his first marriage could be more detailed to advantage. Nevertheless, McEnroe is a fascinating man and this film offers the closest and fullest view of him that we have yet had. Arguably, tennis was so central to his life that McEnroe is first and foremost a film for tennis fans. The portrait of the man intrigues in its own right but doesn't quite have the impact of McQueen (2018) in which Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui gave us a biographical study of the designer Alexander McQueen which was so deep and so acute that even audiences with little or no interest in the world of designer fashion were totally drawn in. But, a few fanciful moments aside, McEnroe is very well judged and clearly earns its place as a worthy addition to the films about this extraordinary man.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  John McEnroe, Patty Smyth, Björn Borg, Billie Jean King, Phil Knight, Peter Fleming, Keith Richards, Chrissie Hynde, Jimbo Malhane, Mark McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Anna McEnroe, Ava McEnroe.

Dir Barney Douglas, Pro Victoria Barrell, Anna Godas and Paddy Kelly, Screenplay Barney Douglas, Ph Lucas Tucknott, Ed Steve Williams, Music Felix White.

Sylver Entertainment/Dogwoof-Dogwoof.
104 mins. UK. 2022. UK Rel: 15 July 2022. Cert. 15.