NEON
In 2003, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Chris Cooper the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Adaptation, officially confirming the biggest snub in the history of the Oscars. I’m not talking about Christopher Walken in Catch Me If You Can, but rather someone whose performance wasn’t even recognized with a nomination: John McEnroe as himself in Mr. Deeds.
The fact that the range of emotions he managed to channel went totally unrecognized is a crime against cinema. It takes a true master of the craft to be able to pivot from sheer joy to total anger like he did during his brief time onscreen, but much like Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, his brief moment of brilliance wasn’t given the credit it deserved.
Now, McEnroe has gone from playing himself to having someone portray him on film, and when it came to casting the notoriously unstable tennis legend in the upcoming Borg vs McEnroe, there was one very obvious choice for the role: Shia LaBeouf.
The film— which looks like it can best be described as “7 Days In Hell, but serious”— features the equally explosive actor playing McEnroe and chronicles the rivalry between the American and Swedish hero Björn Borg leading up to their match at the men’s final at Wimbledon in 1980 (paying tribute to the many rackets that died along the way). Sverrir Gudnason will play the Swede and Stellan Skarsgård will make an appearance as his coach to fulfill the contractual stipulation that any movie with a Swedish character must include a role for one of the Skarsgård brothers.
The movie— which currently has a 79% rating on Rotten Tomtaoes—will hit theaters and on-demand on April 13th.