It was 1973 and I was 4 years into my career. I remember it well, when Bobby Riggs beat Margaret Court in a 'challenge' tennis match. Riggs, never much of a pro tennis player, now 55 and making his living at hustling. No matter who won, the gate and publicity was the big attraction. Plus, men in general still looked down upon women in sports. So Riggs also wanted to prove that point, even an old washed-up tennis pro could beat the best woman pro.Which brings us to this movie. Initially Billie Jean King wanted nothing to do with Riggs. Her focus was to level the playing field in professional tennis, with tough talk and negotiations to get equal pay for the women pros. But when Court lost, and so many were bad-mouthing women's tennis, she not only took the challenge, she took it very seriously. Being an opposite personality of Margaret Court, she was able to handle the antics of Riggs, and give it right back, presenting him with a gift of a small pig at center court right before their match.Holly Hunter doesn't look or talk much like Billie Jean King did back in the 1970s, but she does a remarkably good job as her. And, while Ron Silver doesn't look at all like Bobby Riggs, in makeup and with his delivery, was a very good choice to play him. (Matt Letscher who was so good as the dastardly military man in 'Mask of Zorro' is good as Billie's gentle husband Larry King.) The match itself would not have made a 90-minute movie, so the film also covers the Court match, much of the behind scenes talk on the pro tour, and quite a bit of preparation leaning up to the actual Billie/Bobby match. The ending is cute, where a number of girls and women are shown with script showing what they later became -- doctors, lawyers, CEOs, astronauts, etc. And, I suppose the Billie Jean King triumphs really did help motivate some young women to accomplish things that may have been out of their reach before.However, I don't think I want to attach that much significance to the Billie/Bobby match. But it was a very visible event back 30+ years ago, and this is a very well done movie of it. Also very entertaining! On DVD.

This movie (which I bought on DVD, having missed the initial TV run) takes a decidedly tongue-in-cheek approach to the legendary King/Riggs "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match...which is totally appropriate! Silver and Hunter do a magnificent job of portraying the combatants, who actually cared for each other and had no ill will towards the other. The movie does a fine job of showing that their "battle" was co-opted by others, rather than by anything they actually did (though both rode the hype to their own successes).In addition, the movie is a hoot. King's nightmare sequences are absolutely comical, and you can actually feel Riggs' bewilderment with his "hustle" that has gone completely beyond his wildest dreams, as well as spun out of his control. And, the tennis playing is quite 'serviceable', to excuse the poorly adapted pun. Also, the historical accuracy is commendable (many forget that Riggs thumped Margaret Court before playing King--an event well adapted here, as well), and ABC file footage of the event is inter-spaced nicely.The ONLY real criticism is the use of Fred Willard as Howard Cosell. He makes NO attempt to be anything except good ol' Fred with plastic hair (not even Howard's rug looked THAT bad), and every appearance of him on screen leaves one wondering, "WHY??" A definite drag on what was otherwise an excellent production.

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!

One of the worst sports films in a long time, When Billy Beat Bobby is a mutant of a movie. Unevenly waffling between drama and comedy, fact and farce, it takes a fairly normal subject--a famous tennis match--and makes a weird mini-spectacle of it.Completely miscast, Holly Hunter doesn't quite fit into Billy Jean King's tennis shoes, she looks too strange and unnatural--as if she should have been in Hannibal instead (The muscular character Margot Verger was omitted from the horror flick for fear of offending certain women). Ron Silver broadly overacts as Bobby Riggs, has too close a resemblance to Austin Powers, and sounds too much like Sylvester the Cat. Fred Willard as a TV sportscaster helps only to skew the film into Fernwood 2-Night territory, and every other person is reduced to a sexist/racist/handicapped/ethnic caricature.The story and style is clumsy and unsteady. Is it trying to be Rocky, the Karate Kid, or When Harry Met Sally? When Billie Beat Bobby does not know what it wants to be. The 1970's setting seems to come out of an old Mad magazine, and everyone looks and acts grotesque as if they were directed by David Lynch, or John Waters-lite. The fake-Stanley Kubrick technique breaks into bits of sports-film cliche, bits of nostalgic kitsch, bits of comic exaggeration, and other odd bits that don't move, fit or jive. It has about as much respect tennis-players as a black-face minstrel show has for African-Americans.What it all ends up in is When Myra Breckinridge Beat the Nutty Professor with an American Graffiti/Animal House epilogue tacked on. It even cheats the viewer out of any beleivable tennis action--most of the shots are of closeups and fans in the bleachers. When Billie is best forgotten, it may be remembered for being what Dan Aykroyd on SNL used to call "Bad Performance Theatre!" At least it was broadcast on ABC TV, so you got your money's worth of curiously awful cinema.