John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection

Name: John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection
Genre: Sport, Documentary
Released: August 22, 2018
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 82
Cast: Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Mathieu Amalric

2018

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 17 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Ratings

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John McEnroe: In The Realm Of Perfection

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Movie Details & Credits

Oscilloscope Laboratories | Release Date: August 22, 2018 | Not Rated

Starring: Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Mathieu Amalric

Summary: John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection revisits the rich bounty of 16-mm-shot footage of the left-handed tennis star John McEnroe, at the time the world’s top-ranked player, as he competes in the French Open at Paris’s Roland Garros Stadium in 1984. Close-ups and slow motion sequences of McEnroe competing, as well as instances of hisJohn McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection revisits the rich bounty of 16-mm-shot footage of the left-handed tennis star John McEnroe, at the time the world’s top-ranked player, as he competes in the French Open at Paris’s Roland Garros Stadium in 1984. Close-ups and slow motion sequences of McEnroe competing, as well as instances of his notorious temper tantrums, highlight a ”man who played on the edge of his senses.” Far from a traditional documentary, Faraut probes the archival film to unpack both McEnroe’s attention to the sport and the footage itself, creating a lively and immersive look at a driven athlete, a study on the sport of tennis and the human body and movement, and finally how these all intersect with cinema itself.… Expand

Director: Julien Faraut

Genre(s): Sport, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Wesley Morris

Aug 21, 2018

Mr. Faraut’s impressionistic conflation of humor, wonder, horror and sympathy whisks this movie to the deluxe suite of the pleasure palace. Read full review

100

The Film Stage Rory O'Connor

Mar 27, 2018

In The Realm of Perfection is in essence about that most slippery of topics: the beauty of the game. Sport might tell the truth, but perhaps only cinema can capture it. Read full review

Alan Scherstuhl

Aug 21, 2018

Faraut’s film doesn’t just put us courtside — it steeps us in the legend’s boiling mind. Read full review

Jessica Kiang

Mar 27, 2018

What on paper might be a standard sporting bio-doc, largely relevant only to tennis aficionados or fans of John McEnroe at the height of his powers, instead becomes a lovely meditation on time and movement, dedication and obsession, image and perception. Read full review

The Telegraph Tim Robey

May 23, 2019

With its thickly-accented voiceovers, re-recorded into English by Mathieu Amalric, the film is a pleasingly eccentric watch, and one full of rare insights. Read full review

Mark Feeney

Nov 8, 2018

So it’s a sort of grace note that Julien Faurat’s unusual and absorbing documentary, John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, includes a snippet from the soundtrack of “Raging Bull,” probably the greatest and certainly the fiercest and most aestheticized of boxing movies. Read full review

Josh Wise

Aug 17, 2018

The documentary's labored juxtapositions create fission, the feel of a director scrambling to dictate the game. Read full review

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User Reviews

DufusPsychic

May 30, 2019

Given the material, I was really looking forward to watching this film. However, the ultimate effect was more mixed than I expected. I found it's attempts to link cinema and sport rather laboured and instead of allowing me to make my own connections, it had a terrible habit of telling meGiven the material, I was really looking forward to watching this film. However, the ultimate effect was more mixed than I expected. I found it's attempts to link cinema and sport rather laboured and instead of allowing me to make my own connections, it had a terrible habit of telling me what to think. By the time it had gotten round to covering the effect of the cameras on the player (admittedly more interesting) and then onto a particular game, I had pretty much lost interest. One minute I'm being told the films contains the feeling of McEnroe in his immediacy, but the filmmaker's method means I'm always stepping back from the material. It's then much less involving than say 'Amy' (about Amy Winehouse) where the visual material and audio recordings do the heavy lifting. For me, that is cinema, not a heavy-handed film essay about film about a tennisplayer. The aforementioned immediacy is clobbered out of existence. Disappointing.… Expand

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