A behind-the-scenes documentary detailing the last 12 days of tennis legend Roger Federer’s career as a player, from the time he announced his retirement until his final appearance in the Laver Cup in 2022.
The past two years have seen the inevitable end of an era in men’s tennis that we will likely never see again. Dominated by the “Big Three” of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic (all four with Britain’s Andy Murray), their sheer charisma and distinct personalities brought a grappling edge that transcended the sport. As we watched them grow from inexperienced boys, into men, into husbands/fathers – while rarely wasting a single opportunity – fans came to love them with an unprecedented passion, perhaps none more so than Swiss superstar Federer.
Federer: The Final Twelve Days is the latest documentary from director Asif Kapadia – here co-directing with 73 Questions host/creator Joe Sabia, for Amazon Studios – who did such an amazing job of uncovering the tragic deaths of Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna and singer-songwriter Amy. Winehouse. Here the pair detail the last 12 days of Federer’s career – over 24 years as a pro, over 1,500 matches, and breaking records with as much regularity as balls – and while it can’t of course be compared to the stories of Senna or Emmy, they try to convey the emotion. The painful experience he experiences when he reaches the end. Warning: There are lots and lots of tears.
There is no doubt that this will be great fun for tennis fans
The content is pretty much what we’d expect from a sports documentary — contributions from peers, family, agents, pundits and fans combined with obscure 4:3 TV clips from the late 1990s and early 2000s and footage of the endlessly graceful Fed ballet dancing on the court — that surrounded With a camera crew following Roger from the eve of his retirement announcement until his final match some 12 days later at the 2022 Laver Cup. There’s no doubt this will be a lot of fun for tennis fans, with intimate shots of one of its biggest stars having meetings, hanging out with family and having fun in a locker room. Clothes.
Interestingly, the film implicitly — but not at all implicitly — builds to a final act that puts fierce rival/dear friend/sometimes partner in almost uncontrollable laughter Rafael Nadal front and center — or at least, right next to the guy. Main directly. , where he has lived professionally for nearly two decades. Praised for how the duo pushed each other, and the sport, to new heights, evolving from bitter enemies (on the court anyway) to beloved elder statesmen with a common enemy in the suddenly bloated Novak Djokovic – and throughout their careers they maintained a mutual relationship. Deep. A respect that is unparalleled in any sport. Only the hardest of hearts would not be upset by Nadal crying as he watched Federer’s farewell at the O2 Arena in London.
But this, of course, is Federer’s film, and for many there will be a real interest in meeting the suave man in the cream suit, famous embroidered jacket and Rolex watches, who is quick to laugh at himself, and is an utterly self-deprecating geek. We see Hugh Grant watching him on the field, Vogue/Roger BF matriarch Anna Wintour ringing in just to make sure he’s okay about everything, and three sisters flying from Kenya to London to say their goodbyes. There is no doubt that he was truly beloved and, as has been stated here time and time again, he was instrumental in changing the status of his sport forever. As such, Kapadia and Sabia’s documentary serves as an appropriately respectful if not revealing farewell.
More solid than Prime Video Sports Doc than Asif Kapadia’s investigations that go beyond the subject, Twelve Final Days is nonetheless an entertaining, sometimes illuminating, and sometimes surprisingly poignant look at the final bow of a true tennis legend.