Barney Douglas
Mc Enroe

LA RECENSIONE

John Mc Enroe. "Superbrat" for many but for me, simply "The Genius," as he has been universally defined for his talent applied to tennis. An irreplaceable icon of world sport, from a tennis of another era, almost mythological when compared to what is played today. The documentary film directed by Barney Douglas (only in English) presents us with a McEnroe navigating his city - New York - a metropolis that, at night, is capable of unleashing the most unexpected demons, the demons that John has within himself and that certainly have significantly affected his life since he was a boy. His outbursts on the courts and the desire to improve led him to consult dozens of psychotherapists, apparently without much success. An honest film that doesn't hold back, relegating the legend to the history of sports while showing the man with all his "black holes." The failed marriage with Tatum O'Neal and the criticisms from his children who explicitly accuse him of being a bad father, and the attempt at rebirth alongside a new partner with an extended family. The tragic decline of the ever-present father, the sudden death of the mother, and the tragedy of his friend Vitas Gerulaitis, a fellow New Yorker, who was asphyxiated by carbon monoxide in 1994. Alongside the man, his sporting achievements are well represented, as well as tragedies such as the incredible defeat against Lendl in the 1984 Roland Garros final in Paris, which still haunts him as a nightmare. Beautiful are the testimonies of Bjorn Borg, Keith Richards, and Peter Fleming. A must-see.