''Final Set'' () is a 2020 French

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

drama film written and directed by Quentin Reynaud. It stars

Alex Lutz Alex Lutz (born 24 August 1978) is a French actor, comedian and director. He is best known for his role of Catherine in ''La revue de presse de Catherine et Liliane'' in '' Le Petit Journal''. He won two Molière awards for comedy in 2016 and 2 ...

as an aging tennis player who competes in the qualifying rounds of the French Open for one last attempt at glory. The film premiered at the 2020

Angoulême Francophone Film Festival The Angoulême Francophone Film Festival (, FFA) is an annual film festival held in Angoulême, France. It was founded by Dominique Besnehard in 2008 and has been held every year in December. It was launched as a showcase for all kind of francophon ...

. It was later released in France on 16 June 2021.

Premise

Thomas Edison was once renowned as a young tennis prodigy, but never had the career he hoped for. At 37, despite his declining physical fitness and shattered knee he decides to compete in the intense qualifying rounds of the French Open at Roland-Garros for one last attempt at glory. Although his wife Eve and mother Judith advise him to give up, Thomas obsessively pushes forward. He will have to fight his own demons and will ultimately face a determined young player who reminds him of his younger self.

Cast

as Thomas Edison *

Ana Girardot Ana Girardot (born 1 August 1988) is a French actress and director. She is known for ''Escobar: Paradise Lost'' (2014); her role of Lucy in the television series '' Les Revenants'' (''The Returned''); and ''Someone, Somewhere'' (2019). Life and c ...

as Eve, Thomas's wife *

Kristin Scott Thomas Dame Kristin Ann Scott Thomas (born 24 May 1960) is a British actress. A five-time BAFTA Award and Olivier Award nominee, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994) and the Olivi ...

as Judith Edison, Thomas's mother * Jürgen Briand as Damien Thosso * Tariq Bettahar as Marc * Quentin Reynaud as JB *

Paul-Henri Mathieu Paul-Henri Mathieu (; born 12 January 1982) is a French former professional tennis player. He won four singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best singles performance in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was reaching the semifinals of the 2 ...

as himself * Lionel Chamoulaud as himself (commentator) *

Arnaud Boetsch Arnaud Benjamin Boetsch (; born 1 April 1969) is a French former tennis player who turned professional in 1987. Known for his stylish single-handed backhand, he won three career titles, reaching his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 12 ...

as himself (commentator)

Production

Final Set was writer-director Quentin Reynaud's second film following

Paris-Willouby ''Paris-Willouby'' is a 2015 French dramatic comedy film written and directed by Arthur Delaire and Quentin Reynaud in their directorial debut. The film stars Isabelle Carré, Stéphane De Groodt and Alex Lutz. Plot A blended family set off on ...

, released in 2015. Reynaud, himself a former tennis player, sought to create a tennis film with tennis at the forefront of the story. To this end, he became the first French director to be authorized to film on the Roland-Garros grounds, specifically Court 14. Alex Lutz had to undergo training to be able to achieve the realistic "posture" of a tennis player and worked extensively with Reynaud to achieve that. Prior to filming, Lutz claimed that he had the tennis skill of a "beach badminton" player, so he worked to create specific mannerisms on the court. Jürgen Briand, who portrayed the young prodigy Damien Thosso, is himself a current French tennis player achieveing a career high ATP ranking of 403.

Reception

Box office

In France, the film earned $418,659, where it premiered for five weeks.

Critical response

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 88% of eight critics' reviews are positive.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt11032810 2020 films 2020 drama films French sports drama films 2020s sports drama films 2020s French-language films Films about sportspeople 2020s French films