Fiend at Court Unplugged
The Fiend at Court’s college roommate was a terrific guy with a lot of admirable qualities. One thing that was not his forte back in the day was making movie recommendations. Without fail, he would characterize every single film he saw as “a cute little show.” The statement covered the complete gamut from Oscar winners to Jack and Jill.
In a significant Fiend at Court departure, today I am writing about a movie. I would characterize it as “a cute little show.” Until fairly recently, I would have lamented that there are no truly great movies about tennis. In 2017, Battle of the Sexes and Borg vs McEnroe changed that. Even with those titles anchoring the top two spots, I would be hard pressed to find ten movies to even construct a “Top Ten Tennis Movies” list.
This brings me to the topic at hand, First One In: A Comedy of Unforced Errors. I am calling it right now. This film is definitely in my list of the “Top Ten Tennis Movies” ever made. The movie is in no danger of winning any sort of cinematic award. At the same time, I genuinely enjoyed it.
The essence of the film is apparent in the trailer. In fact the trailer is worth a watch for the standalone entertainment value, even for people who have no intention of ever watching the actual movie.
A general problem that seems to plague tennis scenes in movies and on TV shows is apparent in First One In. Actors have really poor stroke mechanics. While First One In is no exception to that rule, the producers of the movie make up for that deficiency by capturing the essence of the competitive culture of team tennis with a high degree of accuracy and humor.
At one point in the story, one of the characters mentions that the tennis Championship central to the plot of the movie is at the “3.0” level. Probably most 3.0 teams in my area would crush the teams pictured in the movie, but I took that as an indication of self-awareness that the actual tennis in the movie wasn’t great. For me that added to the charm.
As a plot device to create a pivotal point in the movie, an arbitrary time limit was said to be in effect during the Championship. This is a case where the same situation could have been achieved by simply declaring the format to be Fast 4. Fast 4 has a tiebreaker that does not require the “win by two” margin.
I would also point out that there is an obvious sequel opportunity with this film. Perhaps “Second One In” could follow up with a story about the grievances and appeals resulting from the fact that the winning team used two former high school standout players in a 3.0 competition. In real life, that situation would probably be even more dramatic than the one portrayed in First One In.
I enjoyed the First One In and recommend it for tennis enthusiasts that are looking for some light hearted entertainment. It will make you laugh. Currently it can be streamed for free for anyone with an amazon prime membership. It is also available for direct purchase from the same source.
 | First One In (Free streaming with Amazon Prime Subscription) |
 | Pygmy Tarsier Primate Animal Art Decal Bumper Vinyl Sticker I am delighted that it is possible to purchase a Pygmy Tarsier bumper sticker. This looks to be the same design used on one of the team uniforms during the movie. |
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