Tuesday 7 September 2021

Film Review: "Untold: Breaking Point" (2021).


From the directors of Untold: Crimes & Penalties comes Untold: Breaking Point. This documentary film directed by Chapman and Maclain Way. Under pressure to continue a winning tradition in American tennis, Mardy Fish faced mental health challenges that changed his life on and off the court.

On December 9, 1981, the American former professional tennis player, Mardy Simpson Fish, was born. Fish is the son of a tennis teaching professional and a housewife, Tom and Sally Fish. At the age of two, he was hitting tennis balls from the baseline over the net. In 1997, Fish's family moved to Boca Prep in Boca Raton, Florida, for his junior and senior years of high school. He, Andy Roddick, and Jesse Levine all attended Boca Prep International School. During 1999, he lived with Roddick's family, and the two played on the same tennis and basketball teams. As a junior, Fish compiled a fifty eight–twenty five singles win/loss record (thirty two–nineteen in doubles), reaching as high as No. 14 in the world in 1999 (and No. 19 in doubles). In 2000, Fish turned professional at the age of eighteen. He spent his first few years as a pro playing in the Challenger and Futures circuits. In 2002, he earned his first title on the ATP Tour playing doubles in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas, with Roddick. Fish won six tournaments on the main ATP Tour and reached the final of four Masters Series events: Cincinnati in 2003 and 2010, Indian Wells in 2008, and Montreal in 2011. His best results at Grand Slam tournaments are reaching the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian Open, the 2008 US Open, and the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Fish reached the final in the men's singles, losing to Nicolás Massú. In April 2011, Fish overtook Roddick to become the American No. 1 in the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2011. He then played in the year-end tournament for the only time in his career. Fish went down in the second round of the 2012 Australian Open. He made it to the third round of Indian Wells, before being defeated. He reached the quarterfinals in Miami, but was defeated. Citing fatigue, he did not play any of the European clay-court season and withdrew from the 2012 French Open. What he did not tell the media until later is that immediately after his last match in Miami, he was taken to the hospital with severe cardiac arrhythmia. After the 2015 US Open, he retired. In January 2019, Fish replaced Jim Courier as captain of the United States Davis Cup team.

We think we all know the story of Mardy Fish, but the Untold entry on his life and career is still a valuable and insightful biopic. Breaking Point may not be a game-changing film but it shows that Netflix has potential to rival ESPN in the sports documentary department.

Simon says Untold: Breaking Point receives:



Also, see my review for Untold: Crimes & Penalties.

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