So it's not very good.
The actual film making is a bit wonky. Odd shots, very weird application of the music which ends up being jarring.
It wants to be a mood piece based on sweaty tennis players. It kinda gets there. But only through brute force.
But it's fun and watchable
Visceral, visual, a bit gross.
Voyeuristic in the extreme early on.
The fact the two sides of the main character were so different was fun. You'd expect there to be nods to how they're 'so similar but different' but they didn't waste their time with that.
Is it wrong to say it would have been a better film with the body horror turned down at the end? Lost subtlety and impact.
Cod anti-capitalist clap-trap that you'd be ashamed to pull from the Facebook wall of an angst-ridden politically active teenager (this is coming from a lefty). The father is abusive and the script is rubbish. Couldn't make it through
A film that COULD have been annoying, predictable and pretentious.
All the ingredients are there. Music, New York, unrealistically attractive people, romantic sub plots. It's almost picking a fight.
But it works.
The characters are believable and so are their relationships. The moments of resolution are satisfying without being overly telegraphed. And the music's alright.
They even manage to jump along the narrative time line without confusion or captions.
It would be a stretch to say it's pushing any boundaries but it does its job well.
