When Billie Beat Bobby

This is one of the best TV movies to come along in years, maybe longer. As usual, Holly Hunter turns in a wonderful performance as Billie Jean King (both as the person and the tennis player). But the real shocker here is the writing and directing. "When Billie beat Bobby" has a wonderful sense of style that rarely, if ever, is available for free in the comfort of your home. It makes use of visual grain, hand held camera work, jump cuts (when was the last time you saw a jump cut on TV), and non-diagetic visuals. This does not deserve to be on TV and it does not deserve to be called a movie. I would have loved to see this film in a theater and ABC got their luckiest break since "Millionaire." From an artistic standpoint, seeing this in a theatrical release would have taken a great TV movie and turned it into one of the year's best films. From a business standpoint, someone would have made a lot more money if this was on the big screen. I don't know if this will be availiable on video one day (or in theaters) but if you ever get a chance to see it then do. It really harkens back to the TV movies

Amen, sister! Can I get a witness? Hallelujah, I'm saved! Yes, he orthodox gospel of feminist rectitude is proclaimed at full volume in this trying-to-be-relevant-but-mostly-fluffy made-for-TV movie.

My daughter has recently taken up an interest in tennis, so I dropped this lightweight drama in my Netflix queue, not expecting much either way. As it turned out, this could have been a really bad movie, but thankfully it's not. What saves it (hallelujah, it's saved!) from being just another dreary feminist harangue is good performances from Holly Hunter as Wimbledon champion Billie Jean King and Ron Silver as the aging hustler Bobby Riggs. I was going to further criticize this movie for unequal treatment: making King an actual human being but portraying Riggs as a nothing but a one-dimensional buffoon (after all, who doesn't want a dastardly villain who is easily dispatched?), but the more I read about Riggs, the more I came to realize that that was the way he was in real life.

This is not a fine-cuisine-and-red-wine type of movie; it's more like a Burger King meal deal. Fun, but not to be taken too seriously, and not with all the heavy-handed preaching.

I suppose it was. not a horrible film, but it wasn't the best film of the year. It made me recall the real battle of the sexes and the circus surrounding it. My only real comment on the film would be, who the heck thought Fred Willard would make a good Howard Cosell?

What a nice surprise this little movie was, superbly directed- by a woman, no less- a rousing story of 'the battle of the sexes'. Holly Hunter proves once more that she's one of the best actresses around, and Ron Silver is great too. In fact all the cast did a great job. Filled with hilarious touches like the colour schemes of the 70's and some very bad hair and sideburns. Definitely a gem!

a great inspirational story and equally empowering film, though the title gives it away for the younger audiences the film is a gem. Holly Hunter was incredible and looks great, Ron Silver was fantastic, a big change from the other performances he's given, the director/writer filled the film with rich colors and smart editing I score it 6/6 6/6 6/5