The Break (1995)

The Break (1995). 1h 40m | PG-13

“Thereu0026#39;s a scene in u0026quot;The Breaku0026quot; where the tennis coach picks up his protegeu0026#39;s racquet in the middle of a match and says, u0026quot;the strings are loose.u0026quot; Any player who was competing in a nationally-televised match would have had his racquets re-strung before hitting the court. What makes this surprising is that the coach is played by former pro tennis player (and once in the top 40 in the world, at that) Vince Van Patten. He co-wrote the movie, so he should have known better. Such errors occur frequently in u0026quot;The Breaku0026quot;. Chair umpires call out u0026quot;faultu0026quot; and u0026quot;double faultu0026quot;. Real-life umpires donu0026#39;t…linespeople call u0026quot;outu0026quot; when a serve is missed. Perhaps these concessions were made to help explain the game to non-tennis players. I kept waiting for a disclaimer to appear on screen saying, u0026quot;the object of the game is to hit the ball between the white lines…u0026quot; If youu0026#39;re not a tennis buff, all youu0026#39;re left with is a ho-hum drama featuring every sports film cliche from u0026quot;The Bad News Bearsu0026quot;, u0026quot;The Karate Kidu0026quot; and u0026quot;Rockyu0026quot;. Letu0026#39;s see. Thereu0026#39;s Joel, the naive young player. Joelu0026#39;s tough-talking father (Martin Sheen) wants him to quit tennis and take over the family business. Van Patten plays a washed-up former tennis star, and Gerritt Graham is on hand as the arrogant opposing coach who isnu0026#39;t averse to bending the rules. Even the female characters are walking cliches. Rae Dawn Chong represents the bad relationship from the coachu0026#39;s past, and Valerie Perrine plays a sexpot (what a shocker!). Thereu0026#39;s also an awkward subplot involving a tournament referee with an unsettling attraction to the young players. I bet real-life officials were thrilled when they saw that! Having said all that, you still find yourself rooting for Joel. He survives an irresponsible and uncommitted coach (who, you can bet, will be there for Joel at the end), biased officiating and numerous other setbacks to make it to the finals against his nemesis. Guess what? This player trounced Joel the last time they met. ESPN tennis commentators Fred Stolle and Cliff Drysdale play themselves. By the end of the telecast, Stolle has fallen asleep at the microphone. Unless youu0026#39;re a diehard tennis fan, you may find yourself doing the same thing.”