Match Point Review

"Match Point" reviews

Movie

Match Point

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-04-25 23:19:46

Rating

3/5

Provider

CinemaSource

Review

Some say Match Point marks writer/director Woody Allen's return to excellence. Maybe so, but it's really more of a reminder on how deliciously screwed up he can be.

Story

No, Match Point isn't about tennis--well, not in the traditional sense anyway. It's more a metaphor, revolving around a pivotal moment in the life of one-time tennis pro Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). You see, he's grown tired of the pro-circuit life and wants something different in his life. As luck would have it, he meets and marries the very rich Chloe Hewett (Emily Mortimer) and is soon exposed to the kind of money and success he always dreamed of having. But he's still restless, leaving the door wide open for the impossibly beautiful and alluring Nola (Scarlett Johansson) to step through. Their (fatal?) attraction turns into an obsessive affair--when do they not?--which inevitably forces Chris to make a critical choice. It doesn't end well, I can tell you that.

Acting

Match Point's players may have Woody Allen-esque tendencies, but in the hands of the mostly British cast, it's quite a different experience. First there's Rhys Meyers (TV's Elvis). With piercing, deep-set eyes and pouty lips, he plays Chris brilliantly calm, even as he's doing the most despicable things. Mortimer (Dear Frankie) and Matthew Goode (Chasing Liberty), as Chloe's brother and Nola's former fiancée, are also quite good as a pair of stable Brits, keeping things in perspective. And then there's the sumptuous Johansson, the troublesome Yank who's making the British men go ga-ga. It's quite obvious Allen himself fell slightly in love with his young ingénue, as he frames her in picturesque tableaus again and again. But when things start to go very sour in the affair, Johansson's Nola comes the closest to the classic Woody Allen neurotic--paranoid, obsessive and handing down ultimatums.

Direction

Woody in London! Who would have thought he'd ever leave New York? The 70 year-old director, for whatever reason, has found a new place to fall in love with, filming the British capital with as much tender loving care as he did with his beloved Big Apple. Maybe it was the change of scenery that also finally kicked Allen in the butt and inspired him to write something meaty again. I mean, we all know he has issues, which he's always managed to work out on film, but Match Point is the dark side of Woody we don't see too often. To be perfectly honest, after watching the film, it's a little scary to think about exactly what goes on in the man's head. The film slips up, however, in its similarities with the director's far more superior Crimes and Misdemeanors. It could be Allen--who has made countless films and vows to continue to make a movie a year, no matter what--may have finally used up all his originality. Point. Set. Match.

Bottom Line

Hollywood.com rated this film 3 stars.

Copyright © CinemaSource 2006.

Movie

MATCH POINT

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2006-02-02 17:01:56

Provider

MRIB

Review

Woody Allen's latest film finds the veteran funnyman abandoning his native Manhattan for a London setting to tell the story of an ambitious young man's rise in English society.

Ex-tennis pro Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) returns to London to coach at a private club. Appointed to improve the wealthy Tom Hewett's game, he immediately strikes up a friendship with his charge, and is soon introduced to the family: Tom's American girlfriend Nola (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling actress, his sister Chloe and their parents. Chris becomes romantically entwined with Chloe, but is secretly infatuated with Nola. His success takes him into the high-flying world of commerce, largely aided by Chloe and Tom's father, and sees him nestling comfortably into upper class life, but his obsession with Nola threatens everything.

Originally set in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Match Point was relocated to London because of funding. Which was a result for all of us, as the upshot is one of Allen's finest films. Tightly scripted and expertly shot, it bears the hallmark slights of hand Allen has honed over his 36 film career. This though is an altogether darker story than most, and in Meyers he has found a protagonist to maintain a palpable onscreen tension. As with most Allen films the cast are unconstrained by their roles, each fulfilling them with their own nuances. Alongside the excellent Meyers, Johansson adds another distinctive performance to her CV, whilst Emily Mortimer and Matthew Goode are perfect as the well-heeled offspring of British acting stalwarts Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton.

A wholly convincing and riveting thriller, a triumph for Woody Allen and his cast, and confirmation that he is one of the best storytellers making films today.

Copyright © MRIB 2006.