challengers (luca guadagnino, 2024)

Likability is a funny thing when it comes to characters in movies. There are actors so likable that it's hard to cast them as villains, and there are actors who often play villains but are likable enough that we enjoy seeing them on the dark side. Zendaya is a gorgeous screen presence, but she has shown in her two-time Emmy-winning role in Euphoria that she can play ugly with the best of them. Still, I found myself glad that in Challengers, as a former college tennis star turned tennis coach, Zendaya wasn't afraid to be unlikable. It's the kind of role where an actor can coast on their likability, but that's not Zendaya's game.

I mention all of this because there are other characters in Challengers that aren't overly likable ... part of the theme of the film is that it takes a certain kind of obsession to be great at something. I've liked Josh O'Connor when I've seen him in other movies like Mothering Sunday. And I'm pretty sure he is playing one of the tennis-playing characters in Challengers as everyone intended, as a person whose likability is reduced by his desire to be the best at his sport. Yet there was something about O'Connor in this movie that really set me off. I couldn't stand his character ... of the three people in this Jules and Jim Play Tennis story, I think there is supposed to be a balance in the characters, yet I found O'Connor to be so off-putting I rooted against him pretty much the entire movie.

Because of this, I don't know that I can fairly evaluate Challengers. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, and plenty to like. But looking back, I suspect my memory will be how much I didn't like Josh O'Connor.

Bonus clip:

Comments

[Tomás]

My high school sophomore daughter loves this movie. She saw it in the movies--twice! The cast is kind of made for her demographic. I imagine that probably made her respond to the characters differently than you or me.

[Steven Rubio]

No question. What did she think of Josh O'Connor, the character that irritated me so much. This was the first of four tennis-related movies I'm watching for an upcoming YouTube What They Said.

[Tomás]

She didn't like him either, but she thinks it's about three people making the worst (self-absorbed) decisions anyways. She did say she liked the other two less on second viewing. I'm just loving that she has so much to say about it.

[Steven Rubio]

It reminds me of when I went to a party in grad school and our daughter came along ... must have been around 12. I wondered where she was, and found her with a group of people ... she was expounding on the pros and cons of various slasher movies.