Before seeing Challengers, I had misgivings.  This had nothing to do with tennis, but it did significantly contribute to my lack of enjoyment.  There is nothing wrong with the sport.  When given the opportunity, I have had fun playing it.  Then again, there are few forms of athletic competitions in which I do not like participating.  Watching it is a different story.  I cannot think of a single time when I have sat through an entire match.  Between these common reasons for why people tune out tennis to interviews with star Zendaya about sex scenes in the film, I was feeling uncomfortable going into the theater.  What we get is a love triangle featuring three tennis players . . . and that is about it.  You do not have to take my word for it.  At one point, somebody says the phrase, “tennis is boring,” and after another drawn out, monotonous scene, the question is asked “now what?”  To top it all, they had to slow down the volleys with slow motion at times.  Yikes!  All the other stuff proved secondary to my desire for this one to end as soon as possible.

To make matters worse for me, Challengers is a non-linear plot with several flashbacks meant to contextualize the final match at a low-level tennis tournament between Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) and Patrick Zweig (Josh O’Connor).  As such, I am going to give you the story in chronological order because telling it to you as the movie does would be forcing me to relive a waking nightmare.  Thirteen years before these two face each other, they are partners at another tournament, winning the doubles side of the proceedings for their age bracket.  They had been together (in a confusing sort of way) since they were young teenagers, and are the best of friends.  Then they go watch the up-and-coming young phenom Tashi Duncan (Zendaya).  They are blown away by her skills, and are each physically attracted to her.  Thus, they go to a party later that night to celebrate her, and endeavor to speak to her separately.  Their conversation focuses mainly on tennis, but she can tell they are after more from her.  While she appears to be disinterested, she later surprises them by taking their invitation to the hotel room they are sharing.  After she starts making out with them, and getting Art and Patrick to start kissing each other, she promises to give her phone number to the guy that wins the match slated to take place between them.  This turns out to be Patrick.  Still, Art does not give up his pursuit of Tashi, asking Patrick personal details about the new couple at every turn.  It also helps that Art is foregoing joining the professional ranks, unlike Patrick, in favor of going to college.  The school that Art attends also happens to be the same one as Tashi.  This is when she begins to become the homewrecker she swore that she would not be with Art and Patrick.  After seeing her practice, Art invites Tashi to lunch where he tells her that Art is not serious about her.  Art tries to explain that he said this because he thinks she deserves better, but she does not take it well.  It also does not help that Patrick shows up at the school in the next scene.  Tashi makes no mention of the conversation with Art.  Instead, as they are sharing an . . . *ahem* . . . moment, she suddenly stops when Patrick tries to steer the conversation away from tennis.  At her next competition, she blows out her knee and Art is on hand to comfort her.  When Patrick comes to try to comfort her, Art and Tashi angrily tell her to leave.  A few years go by and Tashi finds Art on the court practicing.  They go to eat later to catch up, and he admits to still having feelings for her.  Additionally, he asks her to be his coach.  Thus, their relationship blossoms into marriage, and eventually they have a daughter, Lily Donaldson (AJ Lister).  Their partnership turns out to be fruitful, particularly for his career.  He becomes one of the most well-known players in the world, winning a number of championships.  With it comes the trappings of success, including endorsements.  It also includes the need to stay on top, which seems to be the only thing motivating Tashi.  Meanwhile, Patrick had been plodding along in a sub-standard professional career.  “Plodding,” actually, might be too generous a word.  When we see him arrive at the competition where he will face his former best friend, he is denied a room at a run-down hotel because his credit card is maxed out, forcing him to sleep in his beat-up sports utility vehicle (SUV).  He always believed he was the best, but never applied himself, which is one reason Tashi did not stay with him.  Yet, she could not ignore him.  Though she feigns disgust with him, they carry on an off again-on again affair behind Art’s back.  It had been mostly off until we get to the New Rochelle tournament.  The night before the final draw, Art asks Tashi if she will leave him if he loses to Patrick.  She says yes.  After Art falls asleep, she sneaks out of their hotel room to meet up with Patrick.  In order to get Patrick to lose on purpose, she sleeps with him, though he remains slightly non-committal.  As they are getting down to the final point, Patrick makes a gesture that Art takes as code that Patrick had sex with Tashi, one that Patrick had used before to say the same thing.  It causes Art to lose his focus for a moment, and the last set reaches the final serve.  It ends with an angry Art meeting Patrick at the net, the former falling into the arms of the latter as Tashi cheers excitedly from the sidelines.

If you stuck with that synopsis of Challengers, I wonder if you saw a point?  I did not, and I sat through the whole thing, albeit impatiently.  After barely a half hour, I said to myself, well, I cannot see where this is going.  This is not about being able to guess the ending.  Further, there could be something I missed.  Admittedly, when I get frustrated, I start gesticulating and shifting around in my seat, which means that my eyes can be taken off the screen for a moment.  Still, again, this is a movie about tennis.  There are a few scenes that feature the crowd repetitively shifting their gaze back-and-forth as they track the ball.  I think that might say it all.  In other words, what did I really miss?  After all, Tashi makes the point that tennis matches are like relationships, and that is really all this movie has going for it.  Thus it goes, back-and-forth, back-and-forth, back-and-forth. . . .  Some might argue that the tension between them all is what makes it watchable.  Again, this is not my idea of a good time.  And I do mean “all of them.”  There are plenty of homoerotic moments between Art and Patrick to keep you wondering whether they will consummate whatever it is that is going on between them.  Yet, the film ends without any real resolution to what I just witnessed.  As such, I ask the question again: what was the point?

A movie like Challengers poses problems for a Catholic film reviewer, and it has nothing to do with any suggestion of homosexuality.  It is unrelated to sexuality in any way.  The only nudity in the film is of the male variety, and neither is that ideal.  What makes it difficult is the fact that none of the characters were people about which I cared.  It is not just that they seem to have few compunctions about screwing the other person.  I am not referring to sex in this moment, just so we are clear.  While two supposed friends like Art and Patrick treating each other as they do is bad enough, it is Tashi that is, perhaps, the worst.  Of course, Christians are not above being jerks.  I am sure my non-Christian friends will agree with this assessment.  Yet, when you have belief, there is a recourse to doing better.  What sets Tashi apart, though, is that she puts tennis above all else, even when she is supposedly physically unable anymore to play the game.  Once more, some might say that Faith calls for followers to single-mindedly put God first in everything.  All I can say to such a sentiment is to once more reference belief.  God is everything, and from and through Him all things are possible.  A Christian is called to look to God for a calling and let the rest take care of itself.  One could look at tennis as a calling for these three athletes.  What makes a Christian different, with God at the center of his or her heart and mind, is the love of God, not obsession.  Whatever it is that is going on in the film, it is not love.

Ultimately, it is the lack of love that stands out the most in Challengers.  I am one of those Christians I described in the last paragraph because God is love.  When you experience what He offers, anything else pales in comparison.  As such, I cannot recommend this film, to anyone.