Ponto Final: Match Point

The best Woody Allen movie in about 15 years. I would've said that a couple of months back about 'Melinda and Melinda' but this is a far better cry than Melinda and Melinda. Don't get me wrong, I think Melinda and Melinda is a good movie, but 'Match' is more fulfilling.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays Chris Wilton, a former tennis pro turned tennis teacher who is of Irish lower class. He is shocked to find out he got a job as a tennis instructor in a high class country club. There he meets Tom Hewett played by Matthew Goode in a very strong performance. What Rhys Meyers does is unbelievable, he showcases what he is really made of in this movie. Chris sounds like a simple person but what Rhys Meyers did was make him a person of complexity. From the moments of solitude when he's in the same room as his family, the way he grieves for what he's doing and what he is about to do is very convincing.

Emily Mortimer plays Chloe Hewett Wilton, Chris' wife and Tom's sister. Also what Mortimer does is also outstanding, even though she isn't given much to make Chloe a person rather than a persona, Mortimer makes Chloe a person with ease. In my opinion, I think Emily Mortimer does a better job of playing her character than Kate Winslet would've done had she been attached. She has the right notes and chemistry with Jonathan Rhys Meyers to make their marriage and romance very believable, and what Mortimer does in the moments of denial and solitude she is given, she makes Chloe a complete person. This performance should make her a star.

Scarlett Johansson gives, in my opinion, maybe her 2nd best performance in this movie. Johansson is OUTSTANDING as Nola Rice, a struggling actress. Johansson shows us her range to play this character, the epitome of tragic beauty, Johansson combines elements of sexuality, desire, nostalgia, in one being. Though this performance may not be as good as her performance in Lost in Translation, its still good enough to get her an Academy Award Nomination.

Match Point starts off as a drama and works its way into being a very tense psychological thriller, and Woody Allen shows he is still in top form by trying something daring, and pulling it off. This movie is a silent masterpiece.

Along with Interiors(in a way), Match Point seems to be one of Woody Allen's most divisive films and that's understandable. With me, it is good but not great, interesting but Allen has done better(much worse as well). The ending was surprising which wasn't a problem, but it was also much too rushed and ambiguous, at odds with the rest of the pacing of the film. Jonathan Rhys Meyers and the script also didn't come across as consistent to me. Meyers is handsome and does make for a creepy sleaze in some parts of the film but at other points he underplays so much that he comes across as one-note. The script does have a very neat and healthy balance of sporting analogies and psychological questions, beautifully observed in distinctive Woody Allen fashion, unfortunately there are some clumsy moments and some out-of-place mordant humour(if anyone disagrees that's fine, it's just personal taste). The London locations, it's entertaining spotting the familiar ones, look splendid though and the filming reflects the dark, gritty nature of the story very effectively. The score is haunting, giving an ominous tone to scenes in need of it, and opera enthusiasts will love the healthy dose of opera excerpts throughout(though you wished they had a grander approach). The story even with the clear influence of Allen's 1989 masterpiece Crimes and Misdemeanours(a much better film) is an absorbing one, despite much of it being a slow-burner. Especially in the second half which takes a more violent turn without feeling mismatched. The gritty atmosphere worked in the story's favour as did the neatly interwoven plot points and story layers(the romance did have some resonating moments), and the characters as ever with Allen had a fair amount of realism though Chris was not very easy often to root for. Allen directs with control and assurance, though he's at his best in comedy-dramas like a lot of his films from the late 70s all the way through to the early 90s. With the acting, while Rhys Meyers didn't always convince, the largely British do some fine work, especially Matthew Goode and Brian Cox- James Nesbitt has been much better though- and Scarlett Johnansson in sultry, compassionate mode is superbly cast. Overall, interesting film and a good one(at its best even very good), but not great, Woody Allen has done better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Match Point just joined Brokeback Mountain and Cinderella Man in the top three films for me this year. Like Brokeback Mountain, however, it is almost impossible to write a reasonably intelligent review without writing a spoiler.

I have been a hot and cold Woody Allen watcher, but was only a fan during his comedic phase. So, despite hearing from a few reliable sources that this is Woody's masterpiece, I was skeptical and went in with few expectations. I am glad. Approaching the movie this way allowed it to creep up on me.

The NYC Jewish dialog is gone. The quirky sense of humor is nowhere to be found. the hypersensitivity is missing. Where's Woody? Well, he's in London, but the place and time, despite the opinions of some critics, are largely irrelevant in this film.

There is only one line in this film that indicates its origin - it has something to do with 'intertwined neuroses' and nearly made me laugh.

The first 3/4ths of this film is almost completely taken up with character development, but also contains all of the basics of the inexorable plot that truly unfolds near the end. The characters are all quite likable, and, if you're like me, you will yearn for a happy ending. Watch out! - you've just been hooked and Woody's about to reel you in!

Match Point draws its audience in quietly and slowly at first, defining its territory as a smart, hip, and sophisticated character study early on (in no way unexpected for Mr. Allen), but then it takes an irreversibly sinister turn as one man threatens to bring everybody we have grown to love and respect down with him.

The performances and cinematography in this film are all-around the best I've seen this year. Allen uses a lot of very close-in face shots, and his cast handles it with ease, performing their parts with accuracy and no lack of passion. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emily Mortimer, and Scarlett Johanssen are all excellent, and the rest of the cast lends excellent support. I found no fault in the pace or the plot - this is easily Woody's most plot-heavy film, and you can tell that he had a great time putting it together.

The story line of Match Point is powerful, disturbing, and exceedingly clever. Philosophical folks will likely want to talk about it afterward. Some will find it frustrating and others will find it pretentious. Still others will point to Woody's own life and claim that this film is some form of perverse confession. Well, from my perspective, it is simply damn good story-telling.

Highly recommended for adult audiences.

Match Point is a cool, classically elegant and concise film that addresses all of the big questions--love, morality, death, fate, chance--without ever seeming heavy or self-conscious. I've never seen a Woody Allen film to match it. As a matter of fact, I can't remember another film of late that I thought was quite this good. From the opening shot, the film draws you in and doesn't let up, moving from shot to shot with a fine sense of rhythm and a narrative drive that builds the viewer's curiosity through a series of unexpected switchbacks. Rhys-Meyers is superb as an ex- professional tennis player from a poor Irish background who has turned social climber. Too proud to accept a favor from his upper class friends without immediately offering to pay it back, he affects an interest in opera and Strindberg. The viewer at once sympathizes with him and winces as he strains to seem refined and self-assured. Allen has put together a superb cast of young actors who bring his near flawless script to life so convincingly that one almost immediately suspends disbelief and becomes absorbed in the story. The shots of London are luxuriant and spacious, never self-indulgent. Few films, novels, or plays manage to form such rich dramatic material out of characters' inner obstacles. A classic piece of drama that reaches toward the likes of Shakespeare and Dostoevksy, every facet--from structure to dialog to editing to sound--is brought off with panache. This is not only Allen at his best but an example of what the cinematic medium is capable of when properly exploited.

A drama about lust, ambition and luck, this is the first of Woody Allen's urban adventures to be set outside New York City, i.e., in London, and with the exception of one performer, all the actors hail from Britain or Ireland. Chris Wilton (misty-eyed Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is a former lower rung touring tennis pro from Ireland now trying to scrape by. He lands a teaching job at a toney private tennis club, where he is befriended by the handsome young Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who comes from a wealthy family. Chris comes round the Hewetts' house for drinks and dinner, meets Tom's sweet but marginally attractive sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer), one thing leads to another, and they marry.

Meanwhile, Chris has met Tom's fiancée, the struggling American wanna be actress, Nola Rice (Scarlett Johannson). For Chris, meeting Nola is lust at first sight. But she is off limits, until Tom breaks up with her in favor of another woman. Now, despite being a virtual newlywed, Chris pursues and impregnates Nola. The narrative then proceeds along a well worn path: Chris must somehow dispose of his predicament without sacrificing his marriage (he does genuinely care for Chloe, never mind the family fortune). Bad things happen. I cannot say more about the resolution without shamefully spoiling things for you.

This film is a mixed bag. The basic theme is formulaic. We know it from such classics as "A Place in the Sun" and "Room at the Top": poor boy meets rich girl and sees a vision of Paradise on earth. The trouble in "Match Point" is that the (anti-) hero is not nearly as sympathetic as the principled, brooding Montgomery Clift was in "Sun." Rhys-Meyers is frosty, cool, and way too untroubled until close to the end. Nor, on the other hand, does he have the slick, psychopathic charisma that Laurence Harvey mustered in "Room." Rhys-Meyers instead comes off as an unconvincing kid, for all the daring his course of action requires, in the same sense that the boyish Matt Damon did not seem up to the title role in "The Talented Mr. Ripley"; ditto for Leo DiCaprio in "Catch Me if You Can" and "The Aviator." (Regrettably, box office appeal is a very different matter than proper casting.)

I thought that Brian Cox seemed lost in his role as Alec, head of the Hewett clan; Penelope Wilton fares better as Hewett's wife, Eleanor. This brings us to the female co-leads. Ms. Mortimer is excellent as the pigeon-toed, plain but endearing, trusting Chloe, strained by her infertility and riffs of disaffection from Chris. She nails the complexities of this role beautifully.

Ms. Johansson is simply marvelous. As ever a luminous visual presence on the screen, she also shows once again her impressive range in convincingly inhabiting her characters. Her American girl here is small town coarse, provocatively seductive, and more than a little desperate. How different from her pensive, measured, well-educated, retiring character, Charlotte, in "Lost in Translation." And both so different yet from her nearly mute, servile yet perceptive Dutch maid, Griet, in "The Girl With the Pearl Earring." Ms. Johannson is not only a rising star, at 21 she is already a splendid actor.

The photography and production design are lush. I especially enjoyed the brief scenes shot at Covent Garden, though the operatic theme in general is somewhat mystifying. Is it the affectation of the rich seeming to dig opera that counts? Is there some special significance to the recurring use of ancient scratchy recordings of Caruso arias? If so, Mr. Allen has kept entirely quiet about it amidst his other comments at the film's website. The best things in this movie are its "luck" theme, its visual delights, and the two female leads. The rest is just OK. My rating: 8/10 (B+). (Seen on 01/18/06). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.