Battle of the Sexes (***1/2)

The 1973 tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King seems like a triviality by today's standards; an anecdotal story you might causally discuss over coffee and then change the subject to something more politically charged. The idea that a man would challenge any female (a 55 year old man, no less) to prove that "male is the superior sex" is such a silly premise, and yet sets the basis for a well-crafted and intriguing peek into history.

The movie is really about King (Emma Stone, last year's Oscar winner) and her struggle for gender equality for female tennis players. The film opens with her winning the World Championship and then learning that the next contest will pay female players only one eighth of what the men are making. Despite Billy selling just as many tickets as any man would, tennis is simply more exciting to watch when there's some testosterone. She withdraws her friends from the Tennis Association and then soon picks up new sponsorship from a cigarette manufacturer. Her mentor Gladys Heldman (a strangely-cast Sarah Silverman) is always present for some wise quip.

We then meet Bobby (Steve Carell), a washed up tennis player who, despite being squishy and round around the edges, seems to hold to the belief that he is still living the glory days of his youth. He gambles with everyone from his son to his therapist, and when his wife forces him to return a newly-purchased Rolls Royce, he instead takes it to the casino to gamble some more. One of his friends toys with the idea of selling tickets to see him matched against the reigning champ, Billy Jean, and imagines the money such a pair could rake in. We all but see the dollar signs in Bobby's eyes.

So goes the film. I was not aware that this "battle of the sexes" was the second match after Bobby easily defeated Margaret Court (Jessica McNamee) in the premiere face off. It was this defeat that sparked Billy Jean's urge to pair off against the misogynist. Spoiler alert: she wins in the end. I understand that this was historical accuracy, but wouldn't the film have been more effective if they omitted this initial match, and instead gave Billy Jean more of a drive to prove womens' might from the start? By my reckoning, the score as the credits role is MEN: 1, WOMEN: 1. Sure, Billy Jean wins, but don't forget that so did Bobby.

The film is effective for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' direction (you remember them from their debut with "Little Miss Sunshine") and a convincing cast. At times the film is burdened by Billy Jean's relationship to her hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough) and the conflict it created with her husband, Larry King (not that Larry King, FYI). Later in life we know Billy Jean for being a champion of LGBT rights alongside that of women, but the film is almost weighted down too heavily with this forbidden romance that distracts from the more entertaining film that streams through the rest of the script. Steve Carell is ever good (as he always is) at creating unique characters with just as many virtues as they have faults. Emma Stone, likewise, brings great conviction to her acting and continues to display a wonderful range on screen. BATTLE OF THE SEXES is cute, simple, and slight. In the year of #MeToo, it also feels all the more timely.