Paul Bettany stars as fading British tennis player Peter Colt, who was once ranked 11th in the world but now faces retirement as a tennis coach to some excitable old ladies. Granted a wild card in the Wimbledon championship, he declares it will be his final tournament, fully expecting to be knocked out in the first round.
However, his luck takes a sudden upswing when he falls for Kirsten Dunst�s bad girl tennis star Lizzie Bradbury and he finds himself playing the best tennis of his life. Unfortunately, the relationship has the opposite effect on Lizzie, much to the consternation of her over-protective father and coach, Sam Neill.
Bettany, who is finally appearing without someone named Russell, is an enormously appealing romantic lead and he�s ably matched by Dunst. As Peter and Lizzie bicker and tease, the audience is left to wonder if their relationship is based only on his superstitions and her desire to rebel against her father's strict regime .
There�s also a sweet sub-plot involving Bernard Hill and Eleanor Bron as Peter�s bickering parents, who effect a gradual reconciliation while watching his matches. .
The tennis scenes work well and are excitingly shot and, in addition, John McEnroe and Chris Evert provide valuable match commentary that adds to the general feeling that the film-makers successfully captured the atmosphere of Wimbledon..
In short, Wimbledon is a fun movie and Bettany and Dunst have surprising chemistry together.
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