Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist did not receive Oscar nominations for portraying Patrick Zweig and Art Donaldson respectively in Challengers.
The film itself is shuffled timewise between different phases in the lives and the relationship of the three central characters, however for the review I think it would be easiest to examine the progression of O’Connor and Faist’s performances in chronological order. As one of the successes of both performances is creating the different ages of the character, as while obviously neither O’Connor nor Faist look like teenagers they do much to create the vibe of them when we see them as a formidable doubles team. Each just has a lack of weight in their performance, the lack of weight being the lack of life experience in both of them. There’s an ease about them and really even the hope of youth in their relaxed physical manner and their faces that just have no harshness in them. Although there is some hairstyling involved, perhaps some makeup but mostly it is just the vibe where the two excel in that state of two young guys, more so high schoolers than anything else. A sequence where the two also lay some essential groundwork in their tennis playing each portray the simple joy of performance between the two as you see that both Patrick and Art love playing together. They are truly a team in the sequence as performers as well as they both exude that same energy as one. Something that continues as we see the two together as a pair, where the chemistry between them is quite fantastic. As the two have a warmth in their banter, even when they are purposefully pestering each other a bit, Faist and O’Connor trade them off as proper buddies. Although I think essentially you get the dominant, or the less negative way of saying it, the older brother vibe that O’Connor brings in a greater innate confidence about himself over Faist who plays it all a bit smaller and purposefully the meeker of the two who looks upon Patrick with the sense of always never quite being what he is.
Unfortunately for the pair’s relationship Patrick decides to take Art to see upcoming tennis superstar Tashi Duncan (Zendaya) at a game. A game where O’Connor and Faist’s reaction is that of instant and overwhelming combination of awe and arousal as each man is smitten by her very being. This leads both to go to a party to try to hook up with Tashi. Something where O’Connor and Faist both excel in filling different roles within the scheme of the attempted relationship with Tashi. The consistency within the scenes is the mutual obsession in each of their eyes once they strike up a conversation with her and the various, at first friendly, little barbs against each other where the delivery of them by Faist and O’Connor have that swiftness of true teenager boys having a certain kind of measuring contest, that may be in all good fun…or perhaps not. Within their methods to woo Tashi though each presents themselves a bit differently, as O’Connor brings out what will be something that is consistent in his performance and I love the way that O’Connor utilizes this choice as a weapon utilized both by his performance and actually by Patrick as a purposeful choice. With Patrick there is this side grin, that O’Connor makes the choice to purposefully present only a certain moment of Patrick trying to project his strongest confidence and put forth his best charm offensive. Something we see along, with his rapid fire delivery of someone finding any kind of way to hit on something within Tashi to make her interested in him. Which for her is tennis, where you see actually the greatest fixation in Tashi. Faist on the other hand wisely isn’t competing with O’Connor on that front of the scene, instead actually becomes more insular at times, but rather shows Art’s method as attempting to make a single important strike to get her attention. As with Art’s pivotal lines, that is where Faist puts the most confidence, as he works up to try to make his impact where he can, while often looking off in slight frustration at the ease O’Connor brings with Patrick.
The two have pseudo success early on as Tashi invites the two into a makeout threeway, however she eventually moves them into making out with each other much to Luca Guadagnino’s…I mean Tashi’s delight. Which speaks much to the relationship between the two guys which definitely goes into a sexual relationship in addition to their friendship even if both men wouldn’t immediately admit to such things. However what it really is, is the start of manipulation of Tashi of the men as she makes her number the prize of a championship game, that previously Patrick admitted he’d throw for Art, but now it becomes personal. Within the game you see the first break as O’Connor now goes all in with the confidence bringing a bravado with every moment of his play and even being very close to mocking in his overly satisfied reaction to Art’s losses. Where Faist counters that effectively by showing Art becoming more serious, tighter in his manner, more determined in a way but also now weighed with jealousy for Patrick’s success. Something that is only exacerbated when Patrick not only gets the number he indicates by Art’s own serve style that he successfully had sex with her as well. Something where you see the ego of Patrick grow, meanwhile the frustration of Faist’s performance only becomes all the more internalized and intense. Something that continues as we get our first time jump to Art and Tashi at Stanford, meanwhile Patrick has gone pro not to exactly the greatest of successes.
Through the scene we get our first age up where Faist loses that youthful energy being that much more serious, meanwhile O’Connor’s confidence now has more of a put-on. It isn’t as though he’s truly not confident but you see the guy having to purposefully put it on a bit more. From that though we more so see the progression of the relationship with Tahsi with each. The first where Art not so subtly tries to put some doubts into Tashi’s mind, where throughout the scene Faist’s chemistry with Zendaya is one of constant doubt, quiet frustration and just a fixation on the need behind her. This contrasts with O’Connor where at first you see the two getting on quite well, sexually as they chat up tennis and we see Tahsi turned on by that and O’Connor shows Patrick very much turned on by Tashi. Unfortunately Patrick tires of her fixation on only tennis to which she in turn denies him sex. O’Connor’s great in the way he presents Patrick’s specific lack of BS when it comes to Tashi’s manipulation around tennis. O’Connor while still presenting his own fixation by sexual need overtly, combined with this very blunt disinterest with her overt machinizations and obvious disinterest with him outside of being a tennis player. O’Connor though not making it quite so simple putting in part an attack against Tashi when he calls himself her peer, but within the bluntness of his delivery we see the emotional vulnerability just beneath it of the pain he does feel connected to her seeming dispassion for Patrick if he’s not a tennis player.
Shortly after their fight however Tashi has a career running injury, that in turn also leads to the rejection of Patrick by both Tashi and Art. Leading her to Art, where Faist is great in the way he constructs Art’s, well, constructed confidence. It isn’t real confidence as he chats up Tashi later to join his team as a coach, and really more so to get a bead on starting a relationship with her. What Faist does is craft the attempted confidence of indifference, something he presents with a callous stare and speaking about tennis as though it is nothing to him in a certain sense, though it obviously is much. Faist pointedly undercuts this however when it turns romantic such as stating his desire to kiss her with so little confidence and just the most desperate sense of an ask with a self-defeating attitude. Faist showing so much still Art’s fixation on her as this unobtainable goddess in a way to the point that even when he does obtain her it in no way builds genuine confidence. Something quite obvious in our briefest time jump where we see Patrick approach an engaged Tashi and hookup with her. I think the thin nature of the scene is really key particularly in O’Connor’s performance. O’Connor doesn’t present as genuinely desperate love or anything of the ilk, rather is just direct with almost a non-verbal of saying “I’m hot you’re hot, let’s have sex” with once again his weaponized grin to help sell it all. Contrasting that with Art who catches a glimpse of the situation, where Art is becoming a tennis champion at the same time, and Faist is great in playing the posture now of the star athlete in his general demeanor walking around but when looking at that we see the same guy desperately trying to insert himself into the conversation with Tashi and Patrick.
After this we get the most substantial time jump where Art is the very successful, though pivotally not legendary, tennis player who is married to Tashi, have a child and even essentially an industry behind them as a team. Faist in these scenes shows that complete transition and it is remarkable how he can go from the up and comer star, to now the spent star who is past his prime. Faist does so through the sort of seriousness of his intensity in these scenes portraying the man dogged by his success in a way and just constantly has this weight about him. What doesn’t help matters is his relationship with Tashi has not changed as she truly controls the pair despite not being the tennis star, and even now that he’s married to her with a child he’s still not equal to her. Faist still showing the same fixation though now with I think a greater sadness about it because there’s a hopelessness about it, such as his delivery of “I love you” to Tashi, followed by frankly a dismissive “I know”. His “I love you” being so filled with years of frustration, years of being in love, but not truly being love himself. Faist playing so well this duality of a desperate state despite also having that intensity of the successful man. Speaking of desperate states, we find Patrick as a starving fringe tennis player, who can’t even afford his hotel room. O’Connor is absolutely amazing in this phase of playing Patrick, because he’s downright hilarious yet he’s still in character. Because what O’Connor does is still have that same confidence but now he doesn’t quite have all what he needs to fully back it up. I love the moment where he tries his classic grin on the hotel manager, where you can see the attempt but now it comes off as a bit sleazy and desperate despite not exactly being all that different from when it was successful. O’Connor playing so well into this juxtaposition of confidence now is his only thing he can hold onto to hide his desperation. As we see when talking to an official and his eyes just focus on her breakfast sandwich, and for the moment O’Connor just shows a very hungry man and really the very pathetic state of Patrick at this time. Or even when he hookups with a woman solely to get a bed to sleep in due to his lack of funds, where O’Connor is comic gold in just how he puts on the barest interest, and particularly his perfect quick reaction of “screw it” by dropping all pretense and just starting to make out with her to get to his end goal.
The central element of this final time period though is a tennis tournament which is a tune up for Art, a last ditch effort for Patrick, and naturally the two come face to face for the victory. Where the battle between them is obviously about far more than just the game or even what the game means for their career. Leading up to it we get two pivotal scenes, one being the only major scene between Patrick and Art since the end of their friendship where they share a sauna much to Art’s dismay. It’s an amazing scene in terms of the performances of both. Because on the surface you have each playing a part at first, where Faist is projecting callous confidence, a disregard for Patrick as though he is the great man and Patrick is just some random sleazebag. Contrasting that O’Connor is great in bringing the lack of shame possible for a man with nothing to lose coming in with his hectoring attitude and manner of trying to impose his will against Art best he can. Eventually within the argument though there’s a fantastic moment where you see the “act” in O’Connor let up as he gets to something deeper in his eyes and genuinely delivers Patrick’s almost apology by saying he liked playing with him. Something where Faist shows Art almost stiffen all the more to try to hold firm to his earned confidence of his career and bring too much admance to his sneer of any meaning to their old days. We also get Patrick and Tashi essentially opening up negotiations with each other, as Patrick tries to present himself as a prospect both as a tennis player and as a lover basically. Something where again O’Connor’s remarkable by as much as he brings that confidence it is the confidence of a man who is in dead end and as much as he pushes there’s always the nagging sense in his eyes of not nearly being as great as he wishes he was. What Patrick does have though is Tashi’s number metaphorically, where O’Connor plays the straightest moments in Patrick in stating his disgust with her in a way, while at the same time showing his obvious lust for her in almost the same breath in seeing her as the sexy manipulator essentially. Where O’Connor’s performance captures a specific knowing where he has the directness of the truth, but also the certain resignation that he’ll give into her anyways since he can’t rid himself of his attraction to her. All of it culminating in the final game, where each present their own forms of lying to themselves, where O’Connor brings that pestering attitude, mixed in with moments of vicious frustration, and Faist matches that with that “Above it all” attitude of the great athlete mixed in with his own vicious frustration where the simple truth is neither guy is having any fun. That is until Patrick secretly reveals his affair with Tashi, and in turn her active manipulations of both, and we get the final play between the two in the tiebreaker for the match. It has be said the sequence is oustanding, the best in the film, one of the best of 2024 and Faist and O'Connor are pivotal. Becuase as much as it is a lot editing, score, and specific directorial choices by Guadagnino, their work is essential in creating the gradual loss of the frustrations of each men, to slowly building up joy as they play, to finding the sense of friendship again, to building together this moment of pure jubiliation as they embrace each other. The scene would not work if Faist and O'Connor did not make you believe the silent connection that is reformed through the game, which they absolutely do and make the film end on such a unbelievable high. Both performance are pivotal however throughout the film, as each successfully creates such a tangible personal journey that amplfy the other's by the contrast that they create in those journeys and natures of the two men, with the consistency being the obvious talent of both actors.
