Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Battle of the Sexes" (2017)

Scene from Battle of the Sexes

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

The Movie

Battle of the Sexes (2017)

Directed By: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris

Written By: Simon Beaufoy

Starring: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Running Time: 121 minutes

Summary: The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs.

The Movie

For those following the world of sports news, there's plenty of reason to be speaking tennis champion Billie Jean King's name right now. Following a controversial play at the U.S. Open in which Serena Williams was fined for a public outburst, King was quick to come to her defense - something she also did earlier this year when Williams came out in a "provocative" outfit that was actually designed to improve her abilities as a player. To say that King is outspoken would be an understatement, especially when it comes to the realm of women's rights in the sports world. This is all a testament to the co-directors behind Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris turning their third film's attention towards one of tennis' most iconic moments, which just so happened to feature King in a match whose marketing was borderline farce.

The film, and the moment, was called Battle of the Sexes and focused on King's tennis match against champion Bobby Riggs. The idea was simple: who is the better sex when it comes to sports? While this is the crux of what the film builds to, it's everything else that Dayton and Faris are interested in. What was going on behind the scenes for King and Riggs, who may be portrayed as rivals in every way possible, but who have sympathetic cores. King has to deal with issues regarding fair pay for female athletes, while Riggs has to check his ego as his family life begins to deteriorate. It has all of the world of a classic drama where no character is without something compelling. Add in that the Battle of the Sexes as a public event and debate was never more prescient than in 2016 when the American presidential election featured the first ever female presidential candidate for the Democratic party.

In a lot of ways, the film was primed to be an Oscar contender, especially given that its lead stars were shrouded in acclaim. Emma Stone, who played King, was coming off of her Oscar-winning role in La La Land. Carell, who played Riggs, had been nominated the year prior for his work in Foxcatcher. Considering that the subject matter also felt timely and the film felt like a shoe-in for at least one or two nominations. As evident by its IMDb page, that didn't pan out too well. In a lot of ways, it was a victim of being released too early, or being a film about a subject that doesn't have a strong track record at the box office (tennis). There's even a barrage of similarly-themed (and better received) movies that may have stepped on its toes. With all of that said, it's the cult movie that couldn't in spite of being one of the first genuinely well received prestige films of the Fall.

The Campaign

Contrary to popular belief, Battle of the Sexes was not a film written in direct response to the 2016 American presidential election. The film came to fruition in 2015, before there were any concrete nominees in any party. With that said, Dayton and Faris were keen to the idea of the election being a battle of the sexes. This isn't to say that the year that followed didn't inform the film, but it was an afterthought that worked to the film's advantage. Suddenly the text of a film exploring male dominated society and sexism in the workplace felt like an easy target for film. Given that Battle of the Sexes was a film with a lot of overlap, it made sense that this could be billed as one of the biggest films of the season.

In fact, its filming started off with a sense of optimism. Following Stone's Oscar win, she met with King to start work on the film. King was herself heavily involved with making the story as accurate as possible. However, King would also be key to the marketing of the film, as Stone and King would be almost inseparable in interviews when discussing how hard Stone worked to portray the icon. There were of course other elements that were maybe a bit more in line with attention-grabbing headlines. Stone's work to get into the role featured her gaining 15 pounds through a diet regiment. She also watched several videos of King to get an idea of her character, along with learning how to play tennis (though there were still "stunt doubles" in certain shots). She also took some notes from King and chose not to glamorize herself with make-up or anything luxurious, though the iconic glasses stayed in tact. According to King, an early conversation included King wishing that Stone got another Oscar for the film.

Carell meanwhile trained with Riggs' coach for three hours a day and discussed the champion's life in detail. Like Stone, he learned how to play tennis (he claimed in an interview that he was only play around "twenty-seven percent" of the time) and even exercised prior to his additional training. Unlike Stone, he was alive and conscious during the actual Battle of the Sexes. He pulled influence from his experience watching it, as well as a brief cameo that Riggs made on the TV series The Odd Couple. Carell understood him to be a showman who was exaggerating for the sake of the audience. He also brought a vulnerability to Riggs' personal life, which was far more tragic and somber. He also helped to paint him as the villain in the film's context despite bringing something rather comedic.

The film played at Telluride and Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with fairly positive feedback. Audiences enjoyed the depiction of King and found plenty to admire about her character. With the idea of correcting sexism in the current conversation, the film was primed to be a big crowd pleaser. Given that the film is also about wage equality, the idea of Stone being the highest paid actress of the moment (thanks to some well publicized activism) also helped. King herself would praise the film as an accurate portrait of the events. It lead to the belief that the film would do well at the box office, which was at least true for its limited release debut. However, its wide release was met with an abysmal turnout, under-performing again despite general praise for the film.

While this wasn't the end of the film's awards contention, it didn't look very hopeful by the time that September came to a close. It was ironic, since it had started the film with positive buzz at Telluride. Many claimed that it was going to be Dayton and Faris' biggest movie (it wasn't), though even the hope of it being a sleeper hit also proved unsuccessful, mostly appealing to audience members who defined themselves as older women. Among the film's last big moments was a stop over at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where the constant parallels between Battle of the Sexes and the 2016 American presidential election hit a new level of coincidence. In the interview, Stone stated that when she met Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, she took a picture that made her look nude, despite her wearing a strapless dress:

It was a comical moment, and one that proved that Stone was game for a fun marketing gambit (Clinton was also on that episode of The Late Show). Still, the film was fading from the conversation fast, despite also being a film that played well into the growing Me Too movement that was starting to surge. There were two films in particular during the time that would steal Battle of the Sexes' thunder: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri (which also premiered at TIFF) and fellow sports-themed melodrama I, Tonya. Both films fared better at the box office and would go on to Oscar glory. Meanwhile, Battle of the Sexes proved the unfortunate pattern for Stone that few Oscar winners would return to a nomination the following year.

The Payoff

To call Battle of the Sexes a complete failure would be a lie. It is true that Indiewire's David Ehrlich suggested that the film "is a movie that was made by people who were convinced Hillary Clinton would be the next President of the United States (not that anyone can blame them for that)."Considering that King won the film's title match, it does read like that, even with a sense of irony in the film's inability to rack up any major awards. Still, the film earned two Golden Globe nominations, including one for Stone. However, the race was evolving quickly and by the time that The Academy Awards came around, Battle of the Sexes was out of the race entirely, leaving all of the attention on two other films that dealt with similar subjects, and even more prominently at the ceremony.

It can be argued that I, Tonya stole more of the thunder from Battle of the Sexes, most notably with Margot Robbie's portrayal of defamed ice skater Tonya Harding. The film suggested that there was a need to change who controlled the narrative around women in the press. It was more vulgar, crass, and struck more of a chord with its subject of domestic abuse and bad parenting (it was also more artistically creative). The film also had more of a narrative around its cast that was appealing to Oscar voters, in which co-star Allison Janney was a seasoned vet whose Oscar was overdue (and she had a memorable story about her pet co-star). Also, Robbie had yet to get any Oscar glory. Even if the story was less polished and refined in its subject matter, it connected more with audiences in ways that were reflective both in reviews as well as at the box office.

However, the true domineering force was Three Billboards Ouside Ebbing Missouri, which debuted at TIFF against Battle of the Sexes. While both films seem drastically different save for the strong independent woman angle, the acceptance speech by winner Frances McDormand played into the angle that Stone and King had been harping on the entire season. McDormand's speech commented on women having better representation of women in the film industry both financially and professionally. Her speech famously included the phrase "inclusion rider" and became one of the ceremony's most memorable moments. Stone was there to present awards, but her film wasn't there. If nothing else, Battle of the Sexes had the right ideas on its mind but maybe had an issue with being heard in any meaningful manner.

Ironically, Battle of the Sexes' legacy has become known as a film that was underrated at the time. It's too early to see if the film has a second leg of any kind, though it does reflect a film getting everything right and still failing. Stone and King's press was very memorable and gave the film an added boost of authenticity, but apparently the interest in tennis movies was smaller than expected. However, it hasn't kept modern parallels from appearing randomly whether it be as a tale of sexism in the workplace, or just as this story of how the media portrays women and men in competition with each other. As mentioned at the start of this column, it has helped to introduce King to a new audience and has even helped her platform in recent months. Her commentary on tennis' ongoing issues with sexism are making headlines again thanks to her feelings on the unfair treatment of Serena Williams. Even if the film will fade into obscurity as time goes on, it remains one of those delightful oddities of how a film can be genuine and effective but still fail a making any kind of dent during awards season.