studioAT If anyone has ever felt that 'Working Title' films have a formula then this is a fine example. Posh Brit meets American girl, throw in some oddball secondary characters played by well known faces and you're off to a winner, aren't you? The fact is no. Despite all the right pieces 'Wimbledon' fails to match the big 'Working Title' hits like 'Love Actually' or 'Notting Hill', mainly because you can see the formula a mile away. The fact that the tennis scenes look notably faked and Bettany and Dunst don't have much chemistry doesn't help either.It should be a big hit, but as this film proves, sometimes the big names don't produce the goods.

bkoganbing Wimbledon is the story of a pair of tennis players, 119th ranked Paul Bettany who is on the down slope of his career and young and up and coming Kirsten Dunst. Sounds like the recipe for a tennis version of A Star Is Born, but it doesn't quite work out that way.Bettany has seen his better days and is picked as a wild card seed for the Wimbledon tournament the goal of every British player. The younger and faster and stronger players are getting all the media attention, players like young Ms. Dunst over in the United Kingdom with her father Sam Neill keeping a watchful eye.Like Norman and Esther these two mismatched players fall in love, but this Norman Maine does not fall into dissipation. With her encouragement he forces a second wind for his career and finds himself miracle of miracles in the finals.You say these things don't happen in real life, but every now and then they do as Ron Howard's Cinderella Man attests, the real life story of Jim Braddock. In tennis I remember a much past the prime Jimmy Connors winning that last major tournament before packing it in.Audiences love a comeback story and Dunst and Bettany are an appealing pair.

Avid Climber Wimbledon is a sweet, unpretentious, high flying, romantic comedy. The humor is intellectual, with interesting British dialogs without slangs or complications, and full of funny expressions.Paul Bettany has a number of subtle facial/body expression that are just the right spice for the tone of the movie. Although I always find it difficult to accept Kristen Dunst has playing a star, she's more suited as an athletic star and perfect as Paul Bettany's opposite, bringing spunk like she can easily do.The setting of the movie is quite interesting, and the shots beautiful. More over, the story has a full figure, and is peppered with interesting details. You can feel the English fever for Wimbledon, and the soundtrack is quite appropriate.Only a few things mar this beauty. First, most court commentators sound like their reading their script, especially McEnroe and Evert. Second, the tennis itself, while well edited, shows flaws from time to time.That being said, it is my favorite romantic comedy because it has everything and does it all right just like I want it.A must see.

copperncherrio Following two fine tennis players at Wimbledon and how their career changes as a result of their love affair. First of all, I'm not a big Dunst fan but I love Paul Bettany, but have never seen him in a love/romance film or role.Also there are some amazing tennis shots throughout this film, and some great filming concepts. The chemistry was believable and so was the plot. Both do a great job and there are great tennis scenes that correlates with the plot as well as a entertaining story. Of all the chick flicks that I've forced myself to watch, I think this one has the most of what I want from chick flicks: unique background and real conflict.