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‘Challengers’ Review: Zendaya and Company Smash the Sports-Movie Mold in Luca Guadagnino’s Tennis Scorcher
Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist compete for Zendaya’s affections in 'Challengers,' a steamy, stylish tennis-centric love triangle from Luca Guadagnino.
In Luca Guadagnino ’s hip, sexy and ridiculously overheated “ Challengers,” the rivals are former doubles partners Art Donaldson ( Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor), best friends since the age of 12, who went their separate ways after both players fell for the same woman. The chronology of “Challengers” is more complicated than it has to be, which winds up being one of the film’s pleasures, as all involved — writer, director and cast — strive to elevate what could have been a tawdry “Twilight”-like YA romance (were it not for the casual full-frontal nudity and R rating). Instead, the result is closer to frisky European art films by Bernardo Bertolucci, François Ozon and Abdellatif Kechiche, so focused is the movie on butts, baskets and various other body parts — less lecherous than sensual as presented here.
Or read this on Variety
