Directing: B+
Acting: A-
Writing: B+
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B+

Here is a movie that is fun from the very start. The moment the 20th Century Fox fanfare begins the picture, the sound design as deliberately made to come across as though it's something literally from 1973. And thereafter, the detailed seventies-era production design is very impressive, at least to someone who wasn't quite born yet. Maybe it's different if you were actually around at the time.

But it can hardly be argued that Emma Stone and Steve Carell aren't both perfectly cast as tennis champions Billie Jean King and Boby Riggs. Carell had to wear clearly prosthetic teeth, but with the makeup and hair design, the actors' similarities to the real-life people they played is uncanny.

There is much to love about Battle of the Sexes, not least of which is its depiction of King's sexuality. Here it is seen with a unique level of understanding in historical context -- King's fears regarding secrets being made public at a time when homosexuality was far less accepted in American culture. That said, her husband, Larry King (Austin Stowell, classically handsome and almost pointedly unthreatening), is depicted as so supportive and understanding it's almost suspect. It's not unrealistic to think the two of them remained friends, but was he really so understanding so quickly?

It's just a movie, after all -- but an effectively entertaining one, with just the right amount of subtle poignancy. Battle of the Sexes is clearly intended as a rallying cry for feminism, but never at the expense of its existence foremost as a fun time at the cinema. This is the almost curious thing about Bobby Riggs, in fact -- Carell makes him easily sympathetic, in spite of his bloviating about being openly chauvinistic. He may be a genuine tennis champion, but he's also a showman, something Billie Jean King always understands. "He's just a clown," she says. It's Jack Kramer (Bill Pullman) she has a problem with, as he's the guy going out of his way to keep woman players unfairly paid a fraction of what the men get.

Bobby Riggs as a character is somewhat problematic, being characterized as this "lovable sexist." But when Riggs wins his publicity stunt of a match against women's champ Margaret Court, who buckles under pressure, King finally takes on his challenge because she can't stand Riggs getting publicly validated as he declares men the superior sex, no matter how ridiculous the context. She largely plays along with the silly publicity, but when it comes down to it, what matters is the match.

There's a lot going on in Battle of the Sexes, a sports movie that triples as a women's liberation period piece and a coming-of-age lesbian love story. In lesser hands, it could have been a mess. This is a quasi-biopic that necessarily oversimplifies things, but in all the right ways, moving the story forward at a steady clip but never feeling rushed. King falls for a hairdresser, and honestly Emma Stone's onscreen chemistry with Andrea Riseborough is moderate at best -- this might provide a little weight to the argument for casting actually gay actors in gay parts. Stone is otherwise wonderful, however, fully convincing otherwise as Billie Jean King and playing well off of Carell.

With unusually well-executed cinematography for a film about athletes, Battle of the Sexes is always nice to look at. And since it's not so much challenging as it is a reflection of changing times and one of the key women in manifesting change, it qualifies as a crowd pleaser, offering a story easy to get pleasantly lost in. The movie itself isn't shattering any of the barriers that Billie Jean King did herself, but a reflection of where we once were as a society and how far we've come from it. It's subtle on this point, but it's hopeful and comforting.

*Emma Stone and Steve Carell turn showboating into a match point.*

Overall: B+