'Battle of the Sexes' REVIEW: It's Emma Stone vs. Steve Carrell in a traditionally inspi

'Battle of the Sexes' is directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and they've directed other feel good dramatic films such as Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Ruby Sparks (2012). I've only seen Ruby Sparks and I liked that movie a lot. Not only is this film directed by the people who made Ruby Sparks, but it also has one of my favorite actresses of recent years Emma Stone. I loved her in movies like Easy A (2010), Zombieland (2010), Birdman (2014) and La La Land (2016) which she won an Oscar for and is my favorite film of that year. I also like Steve Carrell a lot too from the very first season of the The Office US and in other films like The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005), Get Smart (2006) and Foxcatcher (2014). I believe that they are both talented dramatically as well as being able to be really funny. Going into this movie knowing that it has a mixture of both was exciting to me. Plus, I'm also very interested in the history of tennis. My mother loves tennis and used to make me watch major tennis matches on television with her a lot. So, I wanted to go to go watch this film to see if she would like it or not. Turns out, she definitely would because this film's great.

This film depicts one of the major tennis event in history that took place in the year 1973. Billy Jean King (played by Emma Stone) who was at the time the best female tennis player there was until Bobby Riggs (played by Steve Carrell) challenges her one on one in the 'Battle of the Sexes'. Billy Jean King believes in equality between men and women and Bobby Riggs believes that women just belong in the kitchen and in the bedroom (That's actually a line said in the movie).

The first thing I can say is great about this film are surely the performances of Emma Stone and Steve Carrell being as charismatic as ever. I think that this is another Oscar worthy performance from Emma Stone. I won't reveal spoilers, but I can still say that Emma Stone's performance demonstrates plenty of conflict within her character and how she exhibits herself in the public eye. While Steve Carrell's character is supposed to be a villain in this movie, he still manages to be somewhat likable and charming who also has to battle his problems with gambling, alcoholism and having to reconnect with his wife. As I watching this film it was often reminding me about the 2016 election campaign due to the competition being between a male and a female and that it deals with the topic of sexism and sex politics. It also has a pretty funny script. Mostly jokes that revolve around sexism without being too mean about it. When the film got to the final act which was the 'Battle of the Sexes', I was initially afraid that it was going to be like watching an actual tennis match which can be boring and repetitive over time. In the film it was intense and mostly directed really well to give this epic scope. I had me nail-biting as I had little knowledge of the actual event that took place.

Issues that I do have with the film is within the middle portion of the film. Again no spoilers, but there is a love triangle within the film which I didn't find as interesting as the rivalry between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs. I wish I saw more of Emma Stone and Steve Carrell together, but I was happy with what I got.

Overall, it will make you feel good in the end. It's an interesting and funny biographical picture with great performances from Emma Stone and Steve Carrell. The second act does drag quite often, but it's over before you know it.

'Battle of the Sexes' gets an A-