Wimbledon (Full Screen Edition)

An aging male tennis star has one last shot and two weeks to win the greatest tennis tournament and the heart of an upcoming womens tennis star. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 02/27/2007 Starring: Kirsten Dunst Sam Neill Run time: 98 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Richard Loncraine

Professional tennis makes an unlikely but surprisingly effective backdrop for a lively romantic comedy in Wimbledon. Peter Cort (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), once ranked 11th in the world, has slipped to 119th and is heading into his last Wimbledon tournament when he runs into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst, The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man), a rising star. The two strike up a whirlwind romance that gives his game new life--but she insists it's going to be nothing but a passing fling. Their affair heats up and Cort finds himself steadily rising through the competition while Lizzie stumbles... Of course, the ending is never really in doubt--but Bettany is a unique cinematic presence, pale and lithe, doubtful of life but also hungry for it. Thanks to him and the ever-engaging Dunst, Wimbledon is funnier, more suspenseful, and more touching that anyone might expect, turning a conventional flick into a genuine charmer. --Bret Fetzer