Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything review – the snooker legend reveals the game he loves and hates | Movie

IIt’s the final of the 2022 World Snooker Championships, and a TV pundit is paying compliments to Ronnie O’Sullivan, who is back in action after losing a few frames to Judd Trump. “He looks so relaxed, so cool,” marvels the expert. Behind the scenes, we just saw O’Sullivan nervous, on the verge of a breakdown, and venting to his psychiatrist, Professor Steve Peters. “Fuck me, I feel beat up Steve,” he said. It was one of the biggest matches of O’Sullivan’s career; if he wins, he will claim seven world crowns, equaling Stephen Hendry’s modern era record. At 46, who knows how many finals he has left? As history shows, O’Sullivan outperformed Trump, 18 frames to 13.

If you watch this entertaining documentary without worrying about whether or not he’s the greatest snooker player (“he’s an artist,” says Hendry), the good news is that O’Sullivan is brilliant company. He has the gift of gab, a sense of humor and is relaxed about his vulnerability: chatty about his addictions and mental health issues. Chatting with director Sam Blair, he comes across as an all-around nice guy. It is perhaps significant that the film is produced by another Essex boy, David Beckham.

O’Sullivan says he fell in love with snooker at an early age. He had great talent and was pushed to become a champion by his larger-than-life father, Ronnie Senior. “I needed it, otherwise I would have been a loser,” says O’Sullivan. In 1992, the year he turned professional, Ronnie Senior was jailed for murder. In his twenties, O’Sullivan descended into drug addiction; his former friend Damien Hirst remembers receiving a call to take him to the Priory. These days, O’Sullivan’s solution is a nice scone with clotted cream: “It must be M&S.” »

I’m not sure a two-hour movie is long enough to unravel his tortured relationship with Snooker (he’s been with psychiatrist Peters for 10 years). As a young player, there were times when he felt invincible. He is still pursuing this level. The healthiest thing would be to give up, O’Sullivan reflected. “But I found a way not to kill myself.”