“McEnroe” Review!

Director: Barney Douglas

Starring: John McEnroe

Director Barney Douglas' documentary analyzes the intensity and talent of John McEnroe with a funny and clever summary. In the world of tennis—a hyper-individual sport that, while seemingly good on the surface, ultimately boils down to a brutal and lonely gladiatorial contest—John McEnroe had an unnatural drive in his prime. Here's a Man's Intensity was so popular that the choice to cast him in Borg or McEnroe's biopic covered John McEnroe's entire adult career, but to Douglas's great credit, the film never felt overwrought. McEnroe's style of play, his heated on-court battles with the umpires, his home life and friendships with fellow players Bjorn Borg and Vitas Gerulitas - it gives you everything.

Douglas never allows himself to be complacent, identifying what's most interesting about any McEnroe subject and honing it without filling it in, while the interviews with the man are funny and honest, a film like this that always avoids the risk of biography. He can combine his own shortcomings with his shortcomings as a player, showing a keen self-awareness. The brothers create a rich psychological profile for their children, which you might expect given the breadth of the entire piece.

The archive footage of McEnroe's matches is also thrilling, and after analyzing them with various talking heads, I felt like I had a greater understanding of the game of tennis as a whole. Some of Douglas's stylistic flourishes are a bit harsh and exaggerated, taking the wrong lessons from the world of sports, and the framing device of following McEnroe on a night walk in New York is strange, but a documentary is what it is. So much fun to watch, its flaws are hard to forget.