Game, Set, Love

Hire a Hall of Fame player to be producer, another Hall of Fame player to play an announcer, hype the heck out of the movie on your network and lead everyone to think they're going to see a good tennis movie (a rarity). This sort of requires that you deliver a good movie. This movie fails miserably.

When you combine terrible acting with a terrible script AND terrible tennis, it results in a straight set loss. Call it love and love for the absolute nothingness this movie has to offer.

Where to start. Let's begin with the two leads, Davida Williams and Richard Harmon (who just happens to be the brother of the director). Williams brings a pleasant enough presence to the screen, but is absolutely unconvincing as a tennis pro. Part of the problem is the weak dialogue she is given, but the more significant problem is the fact that she does not look the part at all.

Harmon's character might as well have been played by a cardboard cutout, as that's about as much depth as he brings to the part. His complete lack of athleticism is strikingly apparent and makes him completely unbelievable as a tennis pro. He would also be completely unbelievable as a tennis student, a ball boy or anything else related to tennis. I picture nepotism as the only reason he was cast and those responsible should be ashamed.

Poor acting MIGHT have been overcome if the tennis action were good. Likewise, poor tennis action MIGHT have been overcome if the acting were top notch. However, in this case the tennis action is just as painful (maybe even more so) than the acting. The awful filming painfully hides the lack of athletic ability of ANYONE in the cast. There are no long range shots of the game being played, only cheesy studio close ups of players stumbling, balls landing close to the line or players 'swinging' a racquet. The outfits, sneakers, movement and physique of the actors in no way portray any tennis pro I've ever seen. They don't even portray a modern 4.5 player.

The sets were awful. The finals were held in some sort of studio mock up with what was probably half a court. It's really a slap in the face to try and convince the viewers this is real tennis when you cannot even film in a real tennis venue. Of course, the producers (one is mentioned below) and the director must have realized early on they weren't going to be able to make it look like real tennis because they didn't hire anyone who could play tennis.

The contrived 'drama' of the 'high ankle sprain' scene at the end played as if written by a middle school net judge. I can't imagine any pro player having any doubt about finishing a match at that point. And they wouldn't be conversing it with their father, either.

For the life of me, I can't understand why Venus Williams and Tracy Austin would want to be associated with this dreck. They surely must have seen how poorly the actors were at tennis. Somebody must have asked them during auditions if they can play. Somebody must have looked at them during filming and seen how dreadful they were. And despite all this, they continued with the filming.

In all good conscience I cannot give this movie even one star - it's that bad, even by Hallmark standards. I'm not really a Hallmark fan - my wife watches all of their movies - but I do catch a few things here and there. I'd heard about this movie during the previews, and as an avid player, I thought I'd take a look. For a company which sends movies out to real tree farms, real restaurants, real kitchens, real locations - I really cannot fathom how they approved this absolute sham of a movie. All involved should be banned from center court.

While I enjoy many of the Hallmark movies, this was a total fail due to lack of research. You need to win 6 games to win the set. You need 3 sets to win the match. The far right screen stays at 40 on both players the entire time. Next shot in either result is game. The next shot EVERY time in the film script should actually give the entire match to the other team. Why people were tasked with this movie and no research team is beyond me. It would be like me making a movie about American football, even though I've never seen a match (actually as I understand it, scripting that may be easier...I just add loads of advert breaks?). However, I still wouldn't know how to do the scoring without visiting something simple like the Tennis Scoring System on Wikipedia. Aside from such a MAJOR mistake for international audiences, where we DO play tennis, I think the comments over story and characters in other reviews are also well made.

My son was a nationally ranked tennis player before leaving the tournament circuit to go to college. As you might imagine, I've seen countless matches, practices, and pro tournaments. Sadly, despite Venus Williams' connection as a producer, the tennis scenes in "Game, Set, Love" looked like they filmed some mediocre high school players in a gym.

Davida Williams (no relationship to Venus) plays coach Taylor and, after a clinic, she's shown working on her serve. Yikes. She gets no height on the ball, doesn't extend her body or arm up, and does little more than tap the ball across the net. And yet a woman "ranked top ten in doubles" comes up and says "killer serve" and tells a young girl that Taylor was "way better than me".

Uh, no.

Actually, that doubles player, Ashley Wong, played by Jennifer Khoe, is shown serving the ball with far better skill in a later scene. As for bad boy William Campbell (a fictional John McEnroe), played by the director's brother Richard Harmon (the 2 siblings were both in the long running sci-fi TV series " The 100") he just wasn't convincing as a tennis player. And instead of acting like the brat he was on court, he had a pleasant and affable personality that conveniently meshed with the very attractive Taylor. They had some fun banter and Willam actually had an insightful line about tennis player parents. When referring to the parents of the kids that Taylor coached, he called them "a bunch of people who put all their baggage and expectations onto their kids". I saw a lot of that. And I was probably guilty of that a bit myself.

But there were some weird moments. Why were they playing in the rain?? That's generally frowned on because of safety issues, shoe traction problems, and heavier wet balls that don't reflect match conditions. And during 12 years of tennis clinics, lessons, and matches, my son never once played in the rain.

Also, the big "Georgia Sun" tournament was likely a fake version of the Atlanta Open, which doesn't have mixed doubles. And even if it did, there wouldn't be TV coverage of it, let alone Tracy Austin.

Another reviewer commented about the scoreboard which inexplicably indicated that the "previous sets" were 4-2 and that the total "sets" were 3-1, games 2-1. Later, the scoreboard indicated that the "previous sets" were 4-6, 7-5, and 6-6 and that the total "sets" were 6-4, games 5-5. Huh?

The relationship between Taylor and her father was sweet, but the conflict between William and his parents didn't ring true. A player of William's stature doesn't get there without lots of parental emotional and financial support. And yet the father wanted him to join the restaurant business rather than play tennis? Really?

But I did buy the growing attraction between Taylor and William, and I loved the Lake House.

But the movie became all about their success on the court rather than off it. And the tennis just didn't seem remotely authentic. In fairness, sports movies are hard to do. They often seem fake unless there's a big budget. Wimbledon was a great tennis movie. This was not. But Hallmark did make at least one decent sport movie. Love on the Sidelines succeeded because it focused more on the off the field action. That's what they should have done here.

My main problem with this one was the casting of the male lead. He did not have an athletic build and didn't look strong like a tennis player at all. His complexion was pasty like he did not spend anytime outside on a tennis court. As an actor, he came across as cold and disinterested. While in "resting face" or not consciously making an effort, there seemed to be nothing behind his eyes.

He was too young for Davida Williams the female lead. This age mismatch was exacerbated by the characters' personalities. She was a mature educator and task master as a coach. He played a whiny entitled childish brat. Throughout. The way he treated his parents near the end was despicable and mean. This dynamic does not make for a believable romance.

I find it hard to believe that Venus Williams and Tracy Austin were associated with this production.

I find it strange and annoying that only those who do not appreciate a film leave a review. I liked it, it's really amazing and funny in some moments. The two leads are convincing. I find that Richard Harmon has given depth to his character and shows great comedy skills too. Davida Williams was perfect. She is so much in the character. I really loved her work and the chemistry the leads get to build between their characters. This Is a process though because the beginning is not easy at all. Perhaps someone could expect some more attention to the romantic side in a Hallmark movie, not that I missed it, but here there was really a lot to tell and various aspects of Taylor and Will's personal and sporting life to eviscerate. In my opinion, giving a 1 or 2 to such a film is ridicolous and outrageous of the work of the cast and crew. I would put a 10 to try and remedy but I will not be so unfair and let a more than deserved 7.