Starring Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst "Wimbledon" is both a sports movie and a romantic comedy, combining the elements of both genres to make what is very much a predictable movie. And being produced by "Working Title Films", "Wimbledon" is very much a British affair with all those trademark style characters that appear in their earlier movies such as "Love Actually" and "Notting Hill". But despite being completely predictable, formulaic and what some may say fairytale like there is something rather nice about "Wimbledon" that makes it easy to watch and entertaining.

Having dropped down the world rankings, aging British tennis star Peter Colt (Paul Bettany - A Beautiful Mind) is preparing to bow out of the sport he has loved with one final appearance at Wimbledon. But when a cock up over accommodation causes Peter to bump into up and coming American star Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst - Spider-Man 2) his fortunes start to change. Not only does he find himself in a relationship with the beautiful young tennis star but his game improves, to the point where he is playing some of the best tennis of his career. The same cannot be said for Lizzie who's game suffers and infuriates her father that his promising daughter's head has been turned at a crucial point in her career.

It has to be said there is a strong fairytale feel to "Wimbledon" with the unexpected romance between a contender and a has been, as well as the knock on effect of the has been's career suddenly picking up. Well to be honest you wouldn't expect much else from such a movie, but whilst fairytale like there are aspects which do reflect real life no more so than the romance between two tennis stars during the 70's Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert. It's the fact that whilst feeling utter predictable genre tosh there is that realistic feeling to "Wimbledon", well for the most, which just makes you think that maybe it's not so make believe after all.

The actual combination of elements as in the sports and romantic comedy works quite well. The sports side of "Wimbledon" follows that tried and tested route, the under dog we are set up to champion as his fortunes turn round. It's all nicely done, delivering a certain cliche feel to various scenes but not belittling itself by going full out with an over the top "Rocky" style feel to the action and training. Whilst tennis may not come to mind as being a great theme for a sports movie, it is surprisingly good and the delving into all the pomp and ceremony which accompanies the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament adds something extra, as if we are privy to areas of the tennis world normally unseen by your average Joe.

As for the romantic comedy side, well the comedy for the most takes a back seat allowing the unlikely romance between Peter and Lizzie to take centre stage. That's not to say there is no humour, but the humour is subtle and not forced upon us with what feel like overly contrived set pieces. The romantic theme is surprisingly enjoyable, delivering predictability but in an enjoyable manner which makes you feel at home with the relationship. You know where it's all going to lead, you can second guess the rise and troughs of the romance but it all feels semi-natural. Even the initial meeting when Peter discovers Lizzie in the shower doesn't feel forced upon us for the sake of seeing Kirsten Dunst's naked body silhouetted behind a shower screen. It's the naturalness of "Wimbledon" which makes it work rather than feeling cheesy or too run of the mill, despite it being so.

As for the performances, well Paul Bettany is the star of "Wimbledon", playing a slightly more believable version of the stereotypical affable Englishman, the sort of thing Colin Firth trades on in a lot of his movies. It's a nice performance and charms us as we side with him both as a has been tennis player and as the love interest in an unlikely relationship. Whilst Bettany stars, Kirsten Dunst does an equally good job of playing the driven young tennis star, pushed by her obsessive father. Dunst does a remarkable job of distancing herself from many of her previous movie roles so it doesn't feel like we are watching Mary Jane from "Spiderman" or Betty from "Mona Lisa Smile". What does stand out is the unlikely chemistry between Bettany and Dunst, it is believable and the relationship between them is in many ways nice, even cute and most certainly fun.

What this all boils down to is that "Wimbledon" is a crowd pleaser, especially for those wanting a fun, entertaining romantic comedy. It doesn't attempt to be anything unique or original rather than working well with stereotypical elements of the romantic comedy genre along with a sporting element to deliver that charm which will keep you engaged. The sporting side of the movie is handled well, never slumping to those unbelievable sports cliche but also delving into the world of Wimbledon allowing us that behind the scenes look which makes this feel slightly real. It is what it is, a typical British romantic comedy which will get rolled out every year when the Tennis season approaches