British romantic comedy about a washed-up tennis player who scores a wildcard entry to the Wimbledon championship and finds his game reinvigorated after he meets one of the top American female stars. Richard Loncraine directs Paul Bettany as Peter Colt, a once-great British player who is sliding futher down the world ranking every year. Once ranked 11th in the world, he is now placed at 113th and it seems as if his career has come to an inglorious end. Winning a wildcard entry to the Wimbledon tournament seems like Peter's last chance, although when he accidentally stumbles into the hotel room of Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), a rising star in the women's game, he finds his luck beginning to change. Even though he is warned off Lizzie by her father Dennis (Sam Neill), the more he falls for her, the more his game improves, until it seems as if he might just have a chance at the title. Also featuring performances from Bernard Hill and Robert Lindsay. Professional tennis makes an unlikely but surprisingly effective backdrop for a lively romantic comedy in Wimbledon. Peter Cort (Paul Bettany, Master and Commander), once ranked 11th in the world, has slipped to 119th and is heading into his last Wimbledon tournament when he runs into Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst, The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man), a rising star. The two strike up a whirlwind romance that gives his game new life--but she insists it's going to be nothing but a passing fling. Their affair heats up and Cort finds himself steadily rising through the competition while Lizzie stumbles... Of course, the ending is never really in doubt--but Bettany is a unique cinematic presence, pale and lithe, doubtful of life but also hungry for it. Thanks to him and the ever-engaging Dunst, Wimbledon is funnier, more suspenseful, and more touching that anyone might expect, turning a conventional flick into a genuine charmer. --Bret Fetzer