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| Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperIn the autobiographical documentary McEnroe... we’re reminded of McEnroe’s dominance on the court — as well as the antics that earned him a reputation as a brat who polarized the tennis world. |
| RogerEbert.comMatt FagerholmThough the film initially promises to follow its subject into a dark night of the soul wherein he wrestles with demons, “McEnroe” is every bit as much a celebration of his legacy as a gifted bad boy. |
| Time OutDavid HughesIt’s an unabashed celebration of a maverick talent, with all the highlights you’d expect from an extraordinary career. |
| The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeBarney Douglas’s doc about tennis maverick John McEnroe belongs to that rare handful of portraits that should find an audience far beyond just fans of the game itself. In this, it has a kinship with Asif Kapadia’s films Senna and Diego Maradona. |
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyThere’s a lot more here for tennis fans than you get in average sports documentaries. |
| Boston GlobeMark FeeneyThe documentary doesn’t give the sense of McEnroe as a person that Douglas’s film does. But it gives a rather astonishing sense of him as a player. With all due respect to those other McEnroe guises, that’s the one that matters. |
| EmpireIan FreerThe talking heads aren’t particularly revealing and there are some strange filmmaking choices. But McEnroe makes for incredibly likeable company and the tennis, as ever, remains sublime. |
| The GuardianPeter BradshawThe rock’n’roll bad boy of tennis is watchably if uncritically celebrated in this documentary portrait by Barney Douglas; it is a film that leaves unsolved the riddle, if it is a riddle, of John McEnroe’s confrontational on-court personality. |
| User ReviewBrent_MarchantbbAnyone interested in learning about the perils of perfectionism should check out this insightful documentary about legendary tennis star John McEnroe, the most successful player ever in men’s singles and doubles competition. As writer-director Barney Douglas’s new Showtime documentary poignantly reveals, for all of McEnroe’s success, he was never satisfied with his accomplishments, a product of an upbringing in which he was perpetually pushed to be the best and came to look upon himself as a failure for anything less than perfection. Placing so much pressure on himself led to his infamous ornery streak and caused him to become known as the argumentative bad boy of the tennis world, both on the courts and in his dealings with the media. That reputation carried consequences outside the sport as well, including his hearty partying ways and troubled relations in his romantic and family life, issues that, in turn, caused his game to suffer. But those challenges eventually prompted some intense soul-searching that forced him to examine the entire spectrum of his life, both in the areas in which he had become overly obsessed and those that he regrettably neglected. Admittedly, some aspects of the storytelling are presented in somewhat overly pretentious ways, but, fortunately, these elements don’t unduly impinge on the overall narrative. But this shortcoming is made up for by the picture’s ample archival footage, as well as its telling interviews with tennis stars Billie Jean King and Björn Borg, McEnroe’s family members, and his playtime buddies, rock stars Keith Richards, Chrissie Hynde and Patty Smyth, his current wife. The result is a surprisingly in-depth look at an athlete’s life, a production that goes far beyond what many sports documentaries achieve, let alone attempt. Advantage viewers. |
| User ReviewJLuis_001It's not as simplistic as it seems at first sight, however it's all too traditional outside of the informative and the lack of criticism towards the attitude that McEnroe came to have on many occasions. It could have been worse, but I also have to admit that John McEnroe is not an important figure to me. |
