Every so often an exceptionally capable woman has to prove her worth by competing against a clown. That’s one of the durable truisms of “Battle of the Sexes,” a glib, enjoyable fictionalization of the 1973 exhibition tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs. She was 29 and one of the top female tennis players in the world. He was 55 and had been a world champion before she was born. She was a feminist symbol and the first female athlete to win more than $100,000 in a single year; he was a self-avowed male chauvinist pig who liked to gamble big. It was a man vs. woman match made for maximum public-relations gimmickry but also a deadly serious referendum on equality on and off the court.

So it was personal and it was political, which “Battle of the Sexes” gets. It was also entertainment, which is where the movie really excels. Nice and easy, it sets the players and early 1970s scene, with Billie Jean (Emma Stone) already making history and Bobby (Steve Carell) largely sidelined. She’s making waves as a player and as a champion of women’s rights, including equal pay, and earning plaudits from the likes of President Nixon. Bobby seems to be living off his indulgent wealthy wife (Elisabeth Shue), a frozen smiler right out of Stepford, and spending time on idle in a fancy office. Mostly, Billie Jean is winning while Bobby is keeping boredom at bay.