Written by Steven Vagg
Inspired by new documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, here are 10 Australian tennis biopics this country needs to make.
BIFF’s closing night film, Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, is a documentary about the Australian tennis champion’s turbulent personal life. The way the drama is handled is also a tear-jerking story. Certainly, many tennis stories would make great dramatic feature films, but we are a country with a rich tennis history. But for some reason we avoid them (with the odd exception, e.g. James Lane in Beautiful Lies, Return to Eden).
Producers also take note!
1) When Layton and Bex met
Genre: Romantic comedy.
The Pitch: She’s the nation’s sweetheart, the beloved star of the nation’s biggest soap opera, and an aspiring pop singer. He is trying to make the most of his talent and end his relationship with the Belgian tennis superstar, a popular tennis champion who along with his mother supports Toilet Paper. Sparks fly when they get together, but Australian sports officials are in a bad mood. Because TBH I hope they’re still hanging out with the Belgians and producing the next generation of super tennis players. Somehow, they managed to band together and make it work, leading to one of the most famous poems in Australian history, and too many articles in New Idea. It really is a movie that writes itself. Beck could play himself! (I’m not kidding. She still looks great, by the way.)
2) When Delta meets Mark P.
Genre: Romantic comedy or dark comedy
The Pitch: She’s the nation’s sweetheart, the star of the country’s biggest soap opera, and a successful pop singer. He’s a popular tennis champion at times, but he hasn’t made the most of his talent and has ended his relationship with the American Pie star (and future Taradis star). When the two get together, sparks fly, but then she is diagnosed with cancer. He stood by her side and inspired some pretty risqué lyrics on her second album. True love wins…He cheated on her with Paris Hilton, broke up with her, then she was accused of breaking up another singer’s marriage, then he dated a Spin City girl and appeared on a reality show And his father said, “You know, if you end the story at a certain moment, it’s a great love story.” As I continued doing that, I twisted it a little more. Delta can play himself!
3) The story of Ash Barty
Genre: Emotional sports movie
The Pitch: The story of an Indigenous prodigy who becomes a teenage tennis star, but then burns out and drops out before rediscovering her love for the sport by playing cricket for the Brisbane Heat. Do that a little bit. Go back to tennis, kick some ass, and retire with dignity. This would be a great upbeat buddy sports comedy with a romance with a golfer thrown in.
4) Evonne Goolagong Corey Story
Genre: Emotional sports movie
Pitch: A story about a bush kid from Baleran. The daughter of a dazzlingly talented shearer, she was black and would hide under her bed whenever a luxury car passed by her family home, fearing the government would take her away. Moves to Sydney and develops a complicated relationship with a coach who steps up her game/ lusts after her/ resents her success. By the age of 19, she had won a Grand Slam, played in apartheid South Africa, been refused entry to nightclubs because of the color of her skin, been the subject of countless racist articles and attitudes, and played at Wimbledon. She won and became the first mother to become a KFC spokesperson…why wouldn’t she? Hasn’t this story been made into a movie? In fact, it has been in development for years. The role of Vic Edwards is a surefire award winner.
5) The story of Brad Drewlet
Genre: Man crying movie (Warning, this story is really tragic)
The Pitch: Drewett was a teenage superstar, winning the Australian Open Junior Championship and reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals before he turned 18. Australia goes wild with dreams of a new champion (it was the 1970s and we were panicking that the days of the 1960s would never come back, and they did). He never lived up to his promise as a player and is often cited as a warning (‘everything came to a head’, ‘too stupid’, ‘too much money too soon’…equivalent to the 1980s) “Even kids are using their phones a lot these days”. He then had a great second act, becoming a brilliant commentator and a highly successful ATP executive, eventually leading the entire operation…until he was brutally succumbed to motor neurone disease. (The disease also claimed the life of fellow tennis player Peter Doohan.) In all seriousness, this could be a powerful, moving story in the vein of Pride of the Yankees, with a guaranteed award nomination for whoever plays the title role.
6) Peter Carter’s story
The genre is a movie that makes men cry.
Pitch: Tennis players from this country. Although he never reached the top ranks (literally, his highest ranking was No. 173), he became a top-notch coach and helped shape the career of one particularly brash Swiss kid, Roger Federer. Carter marries Sylvia, who has been diagnosed with cancer. She clears everything and they go on a belated honeymoon to South Africa, where Carter dies in a car accident. Although Federer is now completely unbrazen and one of the greatest players in history, he has never forgotten how he regularly invited Carter’s parents, a former Australian coach, to tournaments.
7) David Hall’s Story
Genre: Emotional sports movie.
The Pitch: A country kid loses his leg when he’s hit by a car while hitchhiking when he’s 16 years old. He was inspired to start playing wheelchair tennis after seeing a photo of Terry Mason. With Mason coaching him, Hall became the first foreign player to win the US Open men’s singles title and the first Australian player to be ranked number one in the world. Every player Mason and Hall plays deserves an award.
8) (Trigger Warning) Margaret Court Story
Genre: Christian faith drama
The Pitch: The story of a woman who wins many tennis matches…and then wins more…and wins more than anyone else…but everyone still prefers Evonne Goolagong Corey . She finds God and leads the fight against the evil forces of tolerance in defense of homophobia. “God’s Not Dead”, “I Can Only Imagine”, and “The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story” twist facts and make the theme of “free speech” the theme. That’s not surprising for a Christian film studio that makes movies aimed at audiences in red states like . (Stephen Baldwin stars as an Australian missionary). There are a lot of actors who would be natural to star in this production, including Kirsty Swanson, Candice Bure, and Kirk Cameron. I’m not saying this movie isn’t terrible, but there will be a market for it.
9) The Story of Nancy Wynn Bolton
Genre: Romance/Emotional Sports Movie.
Pitch: Nancy was a champion tennis player in the 1930s. During World War II, she fell in love with Royal Air Force pilot George Bolton. They married and had a child, but George died over Germany. Despite struggling as a single mother, Nancy returned to competitive tennis after the war, winning tournaments again and becoming world champion. Great drama. She should be better known.
10) Conspiracy: The Pat Cash Story
Genre: Conspiracy thriller aimed at the anti-vaccination market.
The Pitch: The story of a brave boy who wins the hearts of the nation with his great performances, most notably defeating Mikael Pernfors in the Davis Cup and winning Wimbledon, but he doesn’t do as well as we expected and then falls by the wayside. . Partied a lot, took a lot of cocaine, and I’m 50 percent sure he slept with Rebecca Luce…and then we discover the truth! The government is leading a conspiracy to control our lives!!! They’re going to lock down the city! The new coronavirus was created by American doctors and wealthy people! Get informed and decide for yourself. Only he and his trusted friends like Pete Evans and Kelly Slater know the real agenda. The truth is out there! Make it X-Files meets Wimbledon and pitch it to anti-vaxxers. The ideal vehicle for Kevin Sorbo.
Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story is the closing night film at the Brisbane International Film Festival. Click here for more information.
