This week Netflix launched its new documentary, Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score, which is definitely going to take you on a bumpy ride and will leave you confused as to how to process the given emotions and a pile of information.
Before Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Roger Federer, the legend of legends, Guillermo Vilas, was born on 17 August 1952. He used to play inside the house and soon on the advice of his father, he worked hard on his hobby and made it his passion. Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score will tell you the story of his life and how he never stopped fighting for what he deserves.
At first, the movie maintains a slow pace where they explain all about his achievements and various tours but then slowly we get to know what his real fight is about. He fought his whole life to be ranked number one as a tennis player. And even though he constantly kept winning several matches, he was never offered the title. It was a complex system of calculations that stopped him again and again from achieving his goal to be the number one player in the world.
Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score bombards you with information about his childhood, matches, working at the Tennis Federation and several details about his hard work. At a time you will feel that it is only a visual representation of factual information and nothing more. But as soon as you get bored, it again grabs your attention by targeting your emotions. The whole documentary is a seesaw of emotions where at one point you feel bad for Vilas and then at the other point you get entangled into the technical details.
Like any other documentary movie, this one also uses a series of archival video, written matter, interviews of people involved and binds the story into a perfect blend of facts and emotions. But most of the time you will feel like skipping the heavy doses of details and jump to Guillermo’s emotional journey during his difficult periods. It also inspires you to ask for what you deserve and keep working hard, no matter what the world says about you.
He won four Grand Slam tournaments, one year-end Masters, nine Grand Prix Super Series and 62 total ATP Titles. Even though he won 16 ATP single titles, including several other achievements, he was never ranked by the ATP as No.1 but he kept fighting till the end and never stopped believing in himself.
Overall: Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score
Even if you are not a tennis fan, there are a lot of things from this film that you can learn. But overall if you are looking for something entertaining then this documentary might not be the best choice for you. In the field of documentaries, this one is pretty average. There was a lot of potential to make it more engaging than it was. More twists and turns or unpredictable settings could’ve worked in its favour. Also, the length of the documentary is a big issue.
Those who have no interest in sports and especially have no idea about tennis can try it if they love human interest stories. But if you are into sports and you like to learn from real-life stories then this is the perfect choice for you to see this weekend.
Guillermo Vilas: Settling the Score is streaming on Netflix.
Read our other reviews here.