Before leaving for glory, tennis player Charles Rivard (excellent Éric Bruneau) took the longest corridor. This one without a window, the darkest, the one that leads to the back of his body.
As in the popular song by Laurence Jalbert, released in 1993, 30 years ago already, a rising tide of ice fills it, but in the form of a very, very cold therapeutic bath. A temporary solution to relieve Charles Rivard’s chronic back pain, which prevents him from reaching his full potential on the court.
Before a crucial match, yes, a strange feeling invades him. This is anxiety, which Charles Rivard represses with alcohol or sleeping pills. An immense self-sickness that he hides inside, would add the flamboyant Laurence Jalbert, as perceptive as she is clairvoyant.
In fact, the only corridor that allows Charles to look for the best in himself is that of the Jarry Park stadium, which he takes to set foot on the main field of the Omnium de Montréal, where his career unimpressive comes back to life almost miraculously.
Truce of dubious musical analogy, you will see the bumpy journey of this athlete with peroxidized hair à la Andre Agassi in the very good series Turn – Double Faultwhich Noovo is launching this Tuesday, at 8 p.m., against The red wristbands with VAT and With beating heart of Radio Canada. Strong evening of fictions on the program.
Turn – Double Fault turns out to be an effective, rhythmic and punchy production, co-written by Éric Bruneau, Marie-Hélène Lebeau-Taschereau and Louis Morissette, who also plays an important role in it, that of elite coach Sylvain Carrier.
The first episode begins in a minor tournament – a challenger – in Saguenay. Ranked 187e in the world, Charles Rivard (Éric Bruneau), almost in his mid-thirties, lives on the professional circuit. He sleeps in seedy motels, suffers from anxiety disorders and survives on sponsorships from the family trucking business.
Hope among the juniors, the exuberant Charles Rivard, who has his fingernails painted black, knocked on the door of the top 50 before collapsing, dropped by his coach and demotivated by his stagnation in the ATP rankings. Retirement awaits. But when Charles, whose background resembles that of Simon Larose, crosses paths with his former Tennis Canada coach Sylvain (Louis Morissette), he feels it’s his last chance to climb to the top.
The sequences of tennis in Turn – Double Fault were shot with meticulousness and realism by Rafaël Ouellet, the filmmaker behind the breathtaking thriller Arsenault & sons, offered on Crave. Éric Bruneau, who even borrows the tics of Alexander Zverev, knows how to handle the racquet and he has the slender physique of a real tennis player. Credibility test passed.
The most captivating in Turnit is the twisted relationship that Charles maintains with his psychorigid mother Françoise (still just Sylvie Léonard), a former tennis champion who projects her own never-realized dreams onto her son.
Françoise trained Charles in his early days in a military, cold, empathetic way. The pain is in your head, you will suffer later, she repeats to him. A bit like Richard Williams did with his two champion daughters Serena and Venus.
This method (also advocated by Jennifer Capriati’s father) produces aces, of course, but destroys the player’s psyche in the long run. Françoise pushes and nags, while Charles constantly disappoints, unable to reach the standards his mother imposes on him. And Charles goes into a spin.
Cigarettes, beer, drugs, cocaine, everything to freeze your emotions.
Charles’s father Claude (Denis Marchand) and older brother Hubert (Karl Farah) also rely on him to replenish the coffers of their transport business. The deal? The company finances Charles’ career, but the company absorbs half of the scholarships that Charles collects. Anything to create unhealthy relationships within the clan.
No need to know tennis inside out to enjoy Turn – Double Fault, which includes eight one-hour episodes. It’s a classic sports drama that transcends the lines of the pitch and is about pressure, addiction, performance and complex family ties.
Mini-whistleblower, in closing. Yes, Charles Rivard will repaint his life far from all the yellowed frames. And very soon he will find the exit. Thank you, Laurence Jalbert, for these inspiring words, which sound and resonate, thank you, Céline, too.
Sunday spreadsheet
Here are the results of the first Sunday spreadsheet of 2023, which places TVA in first place with the gala Celebration (1,290,000 viewers), the Bloopers (833,000) and well done ComediHa! by Lise Dion (837,000).
At Noovo, putting into orbit Big Brother Celebrities was followed by 771,000 onlookers, a good score which however decreased slightly compared to the 807,000 confined people who were present in front of their post at the same time last year. At Radio-Canada, the best moments of Everybody talks about it were viewed by 459,000 followers. Guy A. Lepage’s high mass begins again on Sunday at 8 p.m., while the chairs of The voice will pivot to TVA for the first time since 2020.