McEnroe Review

John McEnroe is one of the most famous and controversial men to play professional tennis. His life and career are the focus of a documentary by Universal, Showtime, and Dogwoof.

McEnroe was split into two halves. The first focused mostly on McEnroe’s career, particularly his rise to be the world’s number one. The second was about McEnroe’s personal struggles and his relationship with his family. Both show what made the tennis player tick during his highs and lows.

McEnroe was a personal documentary. The man himself was front and centre in the film, and many people who were close to McEnroe participated in the film. McEnroe’s siblings, children, and fellow professionals all gave their insights on the man, whilst McEnroe gave a frank analysis of himself.

McEnroe’s big motivation was his perfectionism. Early in the documentary McEnroe’s wife tells a story about an elementary school report card and McEnroe was upset with himself because he got an A-. This drive was always a part of McEnroe and it carried on to his tennis career, even if it led to his more infamous incidents on the court.

When the documentary looked at McEnroe it was split into segments. It showed McEnroe’s breakout performance at Wimbledon when he was 18, winning the US Open, his rivalry with Björn Borg, and his rise to become the World No.1. The documentary emphasised his unconventional life on and off the court.

McEnroe was infamous for his confrontation style on the court. It gave him a divisive reputation because he argued with umpires. Crowds loved him or hated him. This was evident when McEnroe competed at Wimbledon where the crowds and organisers were hostile towards him and he wanted to win the tournament as an up yours to the toffs that run the All England Club. It was amusing to hear McEnroe disparage the tournament since he now works as a commenter for the BBC.

The documentary explored McEnroe’s rivalry with Björn Borg who was the best player in the world at the time. McEnroe needed to beat the Swede to prove that he was number one. On the court there were polar opposites since Borg was known as a calm tennis player who showed little emotion. Despite their differences, both Borg and McEnroe had a similar experience when they were at the top of the world, a sense of malaise. They weren’t happy about being top tennis players.

McEnroe was a punk rocker on and off the court. He had a friendship with fellow professional Vitas Gerulaitis and together they partied, played music together, and did some actions that would be ill-advised for professional athletes. However, this lifestyle did take its toll on McEnroe, both on and off the court.

The second half of the documentary was about McEnroe’s personal problems. He had a troubled marriage with Tatum O’Neal, trying to raise a family whilst in the public eye, and was dealing with a cocaine problem. This was when the film was at the frankest since McEnroe admits to his faults and his children told stories about growing up with their father.  The documentary did not sugarcoat McEnroe’s faults and this made the man more human and relatable. The second half was more sombre since it was looking at the darker times in McEnroe’s life.

The director, Barney Douglas, attempted to make McEnroe cinematic. There was a lot of archive footage and home videos, shots of the New York skyline, a neon font to highlight dates and locations, and some flashy transitions. It worked well for the most part and the use of talking heads and archive footage made the documentary feel like Asif Kapadia’s work i.e. Senna and Amy. However, the documentary had an odd framing device where it shows McEnroe travelling late at night to New York City. These scenes were too staged and felt pointless.

McEnroe did try to cover a lot of topics during its 105-minute runtime. Because of this some topics felt underdeveloped as it tried to pack in so much into the documentary. This was the case when it explored McEnroe’s early career where the documentary just breezed by and nothing much was explained. Anyone interested in McEnroe’s sporting life will be left disappointed.

McEnroe worked best as a personal look at the tennis player’s life and having a warts-and-all approach.