Final Set

Released Aug 27, 2021

1h 45m

Drama

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List

88%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

93%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

Once described as a young professional tennis prodigy, Thomas (Cesar-winner Alex Lutz) never had the career in the game he had hoped for. At 37, he decides to return to the French Open at Rolland Garros, in spite of his declining physical fitness and shattered knee. Although his wife Eve (Ana Girardot) and mother Judith (Oscar-nominee Kirstin Scott Thomas) advise him to give up on his unlikely ambition, Thomas obsessively perseveres. He will have to face his own demons as well as the intense competitive qualifying rounds to reach the tournament and eventually face a young tennis genius who disturbingly reminds him of his younger self.

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Randy Myers

San Jose Mercury News

"Final Match" is a winner, adroit at probing the obsessive mindset of a star athlete and his tortured battle with his ego and past failures on the court.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 26, 2021

Full Review

Roger Moore

Tribune News Service

The tennis is good, the filming and editing of the tennis even better in the French sports melodrama

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 30, 2021

Full Review

Mark Dujsik

Mark Reviews Movies

[The] movie presents this character and this situation with little insight beyond his obsession and with an increasing reliance on assorted clichés.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 27, 2021

Full Review

Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

Genuinely poignant, captivating and profound. Like many great sports films, it's not really about the sport.

Rated: 8.91822/10

Aug 25, 2021

Full Review

Jen Johans

Film Intuition

As invested in the human story as it is in its tennis.

Aug 25, 2021

Full Review

Neely Swanson

Easy Reader (California)

Character studies don't get more intense or complex than Quentin Reynaud's new film, Final Set... Alex Lutz as Thomas Edison is a revelation.

Aug 25, 2021

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Tim

Too long a build up for the finale.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

08/27/21

Full Review

Andrea C

Per un appassionato di tennis, la paura nel porsi ad un film di questo tipo, è quella di trovarsi di fronte a tragicomici errori di struttura della "vita tennistica" di un atleta che cerca di sopravvivere negli ultimi anni di carriera. Invece "Quinto Set" è forte di una sceneggiatura solida, precisa e con pochissimi errori legati al mondo del tennis. Superata la paura di questi possibili errori, ci si ritrova davanti ad una "vera" storia di un tennista che lotta per guadagnarsi da vivere e si dibatte con lo spettro del ritiro dall'attività agonistica. Parte forte è proprio il tennis, dove oltre alla sceneggiatura, si denota anche grandissima qualità nelle partite, nei movimenti e nelle espressioni dei giocatori. Purtroppo sacrificato il personaggio della moglie ex tennista; invece piuttosto banale il rapporto conflittuale con la madre. Non convince il finale senza risposte e un po' troppo melodrammatico.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/02/23

Full Review

dave d

Any sports film that tries to balance a fictional world with a real one can run into issues. The film builds a world around fictional tennis and then out of nowhere injects great tennis champions of the past, but almost completely ignores the present day. While that was a distraction, it was the only distraction in one of the most authentic sports films I have ever seen. While there is a moment here or there designed for the silver screen, the tennis scenes overall feel real. The uptight shots are perfect showing the mental and physical anguish a tennis match can have. However, there's so much more to Quentin Reynaud's first solo feature film. He's able to encapsulate what happens to an athlete at the end of their career. The finish is fantastic and took me from on the fence, to solidly in the corner of 'Final Set'. While there are a few faults, it's a winner! Final Score: 7/10

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I will qualify my review by saying that I am a tennis fan, so if you are not into tennis your experience may vary accordingly. That said, very well acted and scripted, and the personal and person to person conflicts depicted related very well in general to the human condition. The on court tennis scenes were a real treat. Just extraordinary. Did they find an actor who can play tennis and build a script around him?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

brent m

It's easy for sports movies to fall into the trap of being corny, cliched and trite. However, director Quentin Reynaud's second feature takes the genre a step further, serving up an engaging, thoughtful character study about an aging French tennis star (and onetime prodigy) seeking to finally live up to his potential before his failing physical condition forces him into retirement. In doing so, however, he must not only deal with those ailments, but also face the psychological demons that have dogged him throughout his career. While some elements of the story are a little repetitive and occasionally predictable, the film nevertheless offers viewers a fresh take on issues like drive, obsession and the price we're willing to pay to realize a cherished goal, no matter what the milieu. The picture's fine performances, ethereal score and artfully filmed tennis matches mix well, adding to a narrative that seeks to go beyond the expected and ordinary. "Final Set" definitely delivers more than what one might anticipate, advancing a genre that all too often takes the easy route, and one can hardly find fault with that.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Quentin Reynaud

Director

Alex Lutz

Thomas J. Edison

Ana Girardot

Eve

Kristin Scott Thomas

Judith Edison

Jürgen Briand

Damien Thosso

Tariq Bettahar

Marc

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Final Set: Trailer 1

1:45

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Synopsis

Once described as a young professional tennis prodigy, Thomas (Cesar-winner Alex Lutz) never had the career in the game he had hoped for. At 37, he decides to return to the French Open at Rolland Garros, in spite of his declining physical fitness and shattered knee. Although his wife Eve (Ana Girardot) and mother Judith (Oscar-nominee Kirstin Scott Thomas) advise him to give up on his unlikely ambition, Thomas obsessively perseveres. He will have to face his own demons as well as the intense competitive qualifying rounds to reach the tournament and eventually face a young tennis genius who disturbingly reminds him of his younger self.

Director: Quentin Reynaud
Screenwriter: Quentin Reynaud
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: Canal+, Taxshelter. be, Les Films du Crocodile, Ciné+, Praesens-Film, Tax Shelter du Gouvernement Fédéral Belge, Apollo Film, GapBusters, 22h22, Ciné@, Cofimage 31, Shelter prod, StudioCanal
Genre: Drama
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 27, 2021, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 18, 2021
Runtime: 1h 45m

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