‘Battle of the Sexes’ an insightful re-creation of Riggs-King match

The 1973 tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King was one of those crazy American events, a zany and outlandish spectacle that was, at heart, not a joke at all. Even at the time, people knew that Riggs and King would be remembered forever for this match, which became a flash point in American culture and remains a weird emblem of its era.

“Battle of the Sexes” tells the story of that match and of the events leading up to it. For those not old enough to remember it firsthand — at this point, that’s most people — it captures the big day’s excitement and reminds us of its importance. This was something that everyone watched and almost everybody cared about.