To the blessed relief of action-hungry sports fans, behind-the-scenes documentaries are en vogue at the minute, with more and more turning up on streaming services.
Andy Murray: Resurfacing gives us a closer look at Britain's greatest ever tennis player's battle with a career-threatening injury.
Andy Murray: Resurfacing (2020)
Summary
Andy Murray was at the top of the world in 2017 when he suffered a hip injury that would change his life forever. He went from thinking about how many grand slams he might win to being in too much pain to tie his own shoelaces.
Murray, the ultimate fighter, was not going to give up on what he had worked his whole life for, so embarked on a remarkable journey which involved two rounds of surgery, countless hours of rehabilitation, a retirement announcement and a happy ending that even the Scot might not have envisaged.
Cast
Murray is obviously the star of the show and he held nothing back when the cameras were around, baring his soul for all to see. He spoke, for the first time, about the effects of the Dunblane massacre – the mass shooting at a Scotland school that he attended in the 1990s – while also allowed his numerous conversations about the possibility of retiring be filmed. There was a real poignant moment when, after winning a match that ended at 5am, Murray rang the director saying that he thought he had reached the end of the road.
But the film gave great insight into just how strong his backroom team is, starting with wife Kim, who showed herself to be a supportive voice of reason and a sounding board for all of Murray's issues. He is portrayed as miserable in the British media, but this showcased a different side to him, with a bromance with physio and sharp banter skills with the rest of his team coming through strongly.
Review
Even the filmmakers could not have envisaged what they were going to get when they embarked on this project as Murray kept plummeting new depths on his battle with fitness and never changed his open and honest ways in front of the camera. That led to some highly-charged and emotional moments where it was impossible not to feel sympathy for the Scot.
The happy ending, Murray winning his first tournament back after his second operation, is the sort of thing that you see in Hollywood movies and it is a real shame the cameras did not keep rolling for a few months as the Scot went on to win a singles title.
But this documentary is a brilliant story of redemption and showed exactly why Murray is Britain's greatest ever tennis player.
