Match

Tour de force performance from Patrick Stewart. Unfortunately his role is not really captivating. The young man is more interesting. Ultimately as a film it falls short. Maybe it worked on stage. In some aspects I found Toby's character repulsive.

Not an action flick, this is a character and dialogue driven film containing lots of twists and surprises, and I found it quite engrossing as it offers something different. Instinctively, I felt it might have been a play, and after reading up on it, I saw that is was indeed, with playwright Stephen Belber ably adapting it to the screen and directing as well. Just to note, surprisingly, it contains very raw language and some sexual references in its content.

It's pretty much a 3 person movie, with fine performances from Patrick Stewart, Carla Gugino, and Matthew Lillard. Stewart portrays Tobi Powell, a retired world-class dancer and choreographer, who now teaches dance at Juilliard, in New York City. He's a complex bi-sexual man, who can be caustic, bombastic, and "swear like a sailor", yet be into knitting and cooking as well.

The ever vivacious Gugino plays Lisa Davis, who has traveled from Seattle with her policeman husband Mike (Lillard) to meet Tobi, and ostensibly interview him for her dissertation on the history of classical choreography. However, after a casual get-together at a local Greek restaurant, Tobi invites the couple to his apartment to continue the interview.

It's not long before Tobi senses there's a lot more at play here than a simple interview, and things begin to get rather intense and even sinister. Henceforth, they'll be a number of twists and turns that kept me guessing right up to the final scenes.

All in all, this movie got my attention and kept me engaged from start to finish with its surprises and intrigue, along with the excellent performances from all three leads here.

A 40-something couple from Seattle arrives in New York to interview a flamboyant bi-sexual 70-something ballet teacher about his long career for a dissertation on classical dance. As the questions probe deeper, they begin to focus upon the man's relationship with a ballerina, with whom he'd enjoyed a brief affair many years previously. Before too long it becomes obvious this romance is the focus of the interviewers' interest, and their inquiries soon take a detour into uncomfortable territory.

Each of the three characters attracts both sympathy and antipathy at various times, with the dialog crackling with wit, pathos and hostility as the story changes direction, tone and pace like a switchback ride. The narrative journeys through several different zones of the emotional spectrum until it eventually arrives at a satisfying conclusion. The three actors turn in excellent performances, and 'Match' provides sophisticated entertainment along with some thought-provoking insights about making art. Hopefully it will do well, and encourage producers to make more films of similar intelligence.

Tobi (Patrick Stewart) is a dance professor at Julliard. Today he's very nervous, however, as he's expecting guests. Who they are, you don't know but he wants everything to be just right and he fusses over the details. Once the couple arrive, you learn that the woman is supposedly working on a dissertation about dance and the husband is just along for the ride. This portion at Tobi's favorite restaurant is VERY hard to take. Tobi is so superficial and flamboyant that he comes off as fake and annoying. I really was tempted to turn off the film...it was THAT bad.

Soon the scene changes to Tobi's apartment. While the lady (Carla Gugino) asks Tobi a lot of questions about dance, her husband (Matthew Lillard) begins asking questions--which is strange because he's just supposed to be along for the ride. What's stranger is that his questions are very invasive and he begins asking Tobi about his sex life. What is this all about....as it soon becomes obvious that there is no dissertation and the couple have ulterior motives. What? See the film.

I hated the first 20 minutes or so of the film and thought the writing and Stewart were just awful. But I stuck with it...and I am glad I did because through the course of the film, the bravado, the fakeness and the veneer begin to wear away and the movie becomes an interesting character study. In fact, it becomes a wonderful study of all three--and all three are marvelous. It also becomes quieter...more contemplative...and very emotionally charged--so much so that you might just want to have a few Kleenex handy. Rarely has a movie surprised me like this one did...and I am certainly glad I saw it. If you, too, would like to see it, the film is out this week on Netflix.

By the way, this is not a film for kids. There is a lot of talk about sexuality and it would probably bore younger viewers as well. But for someone who wants to see marvelous acting you cannot do much better than this.

Tobi Powell (Patrick Stewart) is a private effeminate Juilliard dance professor with a long distinguished career. He gets interviewed by married couple Lisa (Carla Gugino) and Mike Davis (Matthew Lillard). They eventually reveal the true motive of their visit. They believe that Tobi is Mike's biological father.

Patrick Stewart is a well-established actor of the highest order. He can act circles around anybody. Gugino is a nice partner in this exercise. Lillard, known for playing goofballs, has some solid anger here. I would have liked for the three leads to stay together in that apartment and stew in the conflict longer. It boils over too quickly and Lillard leaves the room for too long. Stewart and Gugino play around for awhile. In the end, Stewart is great but that's not unexpected.