TonyMontana96
Woody Allen is not a director whose films I am familiar with, but the first one I have had the pleasure of seeing is something both smart and funny. Some may find the humour on show, off putting but me I found it extremely amusing and refreshing to what most films call comedy these days; especially during a scene involving Meyers and a shotgun that reminded me of the great film 'American psycho' from the year 2000.The first half hour is pretty simple but effective, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Chris Wilton) is not sure what he wants to do with his life when he moves to London, during which you see his character getting use to London and meeting new people, like where he meets Tom Hewett played by Matthew Goode at a members only club in a friendly tennis match; in which they become good friends and the family introductions are all done and so forth, then he has a liking for Tom's sister played by Emily Mortimer which ends up with them together, but only later does he meet Tom's fiancée (Nola) played by the beautiful Scarlett Johannsson and has already fell in love with her on their first meet, however as it all unravels you get to see a terrific drama with a comedic tone, some very good romance and a truly great scene involving Johansson and Meyers when they finally kiss and make out in a field during heavy rain.The acting is very good, with some other notable performances from Brian Cox (Eleanor's Father), Penelope Wilton (Eleanor's mother), and Ewen Bremmer as a detective to name a few. However Johansson and Meyers chemistry is even better with both of them giving highly respectable performances and contributing to some of the best moments in the picture. During the first half I kept thinking this is extremely predictable but still completely enjoyable, but by the end I literally ate my words, as the second act and most notably the surprising third act had me on the edge of my seat; and I kept thinking Allen, your script is pure genius, not only did you give us an entertaining film, you gave us a highly entertaining, great piece of filmmaking with a remarkably engaging plot. There's plenty of energy within the cast, it's cleverly written, smartly directed and like I mentioned very amusing with plenty of refreshing dialogue; Match Point is simply a great film.
ElMaruecan82
And I thought "Crimes and Misdemeanors" was cynical because it established the triumph of reason over heart, "March Point" is even worse, because Allen finds something more valuable than reason: luck.Speaking of reason, there is a reason why Woody Allen is such a prolific filmmaker, none of his films look for profitability or critical acclaim, he makes what he thinks is good, and it's enough (we're talking of the director who didn't show up in the Oscars when "Annie Hall" won the Best Picture Oscar) but it takes many good films to reach once or twice a decade, the 'Nirvana'. Some Allen's movies hit the perfect chord and are so impressively flawless that they always make you feel like you've seen nothing of Allen yet.Out of the forty-something movies he made, I have certainly watched three dozens and well, I wasn't prepared by how good "Match Point" would be. Even halfway through the film, I didn't know where it was going, but near the third act, I knew I was watching a Woody Allen film with capital A. The ending made me realize it was more serious than that, it was probably one of his best. I had to watch it a second time then a third time, and I maintain that… it's one of his best, and for two reasons.On a technical level (to get through it), this is a film that is flawlessly acted and scenes flow with such fluidity that when you see it again, you can see that there's no detail that doesn't play a pivotal role, yet without its inclusion feeling contrived or artificial. The second aspect is the way the ending makes the beginning's point, the film has a message to tell from the story and it's not until the last five minutes that we realize how brilliantly Allen toyed with our expectations, making the point we expected him to make but not as we thought.I will get back to the story because being too talkative about the ending might spoil the surprise. The film is about an Irish tennis teacher Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a young man with dashing good looks who gets a job in an English country club. He meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), they exchange a few words about music, earning him an immediate invitation to an Opera concert. Tom comes from a rich family (the father, played by Brian Cox "own" companies) and they seem to like Chris, and the daughter, Chloe (Emily Mortimer) instantly falls in love with him. He gets Chloe and a job in Daddy's company as collateral gift. This is like Cinderella story in speed motion.And there's no catch actually, this is no Faustian pact of anything of that sort, Chris has basically everything a sensitive man would look for, especially one of his background, a steady job, a loving and pretty wife and money, so Chris is the one who looks for trouble. He meets Nora, Tom's fiancée, a sexy aspiring actress, and it's not love but lust-at-first-sight, Chris is invaded by an immediate and intense desire to possess her. And since their luscious interactions behind the ping pong table, we know it's a matter of time before they succumb to the call of lust, catalyzed by anger, booze and rain.But this sexual intercourse has only intensified his appetite. The situation gets tricky when he realizes he can't renounce his lifestyle either. This is not the Cornelian conflict between duty and passion, but between greed and sex, the two drivers of society. In a way, Chris is the pure embodiment of modernity in its most pervert form, like when he marries Chloe and gets Nora pregnant. I already had feelings of déjà vu but the pregnancy subplot immediately reminded me of a classic of American Cinema "A Place in the Sun". Yet the film was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, maybe it's a way to acknowledge that the "American Tragedy" classic is a universal story with infinite variations.Allen also seems to have borrowed elements from his critically acclaimed "Crimes and Misdemeanors", which featured a similar situation but was more about religion, moral and the dilemma between reason and conscience. In "Match Point", Woody chooses a different angle, a sort of existential tennis match between work and luck. The film opens with the sight of a tennis ball swinging back and forth like so many up and downs that life has to provide and then the ball hits the net and bounce, it's all about the side of the court it will fall in: one means victory, another means defeat.Life is as simple as that and I'm in total agreement because I used to believe in chronically bad luck, on being screwed, but I realized life was made through a few hit-or-miss moments and all the hard work of the world can see its effect canceled if you make the wrong move at the wrong time, sometimes you're lucky, sometimes not but never underestimate the potentiality of luck within the bad luck. Woody Allen who loved to play or portray unlucky schmucks caught in the midst of modernity, focuses here in the case of a particularly lucky character and we wait for the moment it changes. Maybe this is why it doesn't feel like an Allen film, but I'm not even sure there's such a thing as a typical Allen film.I had just seen a masterpiece about 'bad luck' called "A Serious Man" and now I have its polar opposite with "Match Point". The two movies have interesting things to say about the way we control our own fates, whether under the direction of God or hazard, which also echoes the religious undertones of "Crimes and Misdemeanors", but someone said "Hazard is the anonymous way to call God", sometimes, it might be the anonymous way to call the devil as well, and I will say no more.
Alex Deleon
ALLEN ENTERS NEW TERRITORY WITH "MATCH POINT"Viewed at 2005 San Sebastian Film Festival featuring centenary homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Though there were no films by Hitchcock on view, several films are in a way a homage to the master. "Match Point", the latest from Woody Allen is a vast departure from his usual form and is, in effect, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller filmed in London no less, with an entirely English cast except for a smashingly sexy Scarlett Johansson in a most uncharacteristic vamp role, as the sole American presence – (and what a presence she is!). At a turning point in his life, an unscrupulous social climbing former tennis pro falls for a scrumptuous femme-fatal type (Scarlett Jo) who happens to be dating his new best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Her blatant irresistibility forces him to tread a skittery fine line between acceptance or expulsion from the high society he has edged his way into -- like a tennis ball teetering on top of the net at a decisive win-or-lose "match point". Also the metaphor for which way the evidence will fall when he is a suspect in Scarlett's shocking but necessary murder. Young Scarlett really sets the celluloid aflame in this stylish shot out of Mr. Konigsberg's Twilight Zone, with sensitive support from Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the freaked-out lover-killer who in the end will go unpunished. Woody has strayed from comedy before with mixed results but this no-nonsense edge of the seat entry into typical Hitchcockian territory demonstrates his versatility as nothing before. The tennis background is perfectly employed to a breath-taking conclusion where a tennis ball teeters momentarily on the top of the net and can fall either way. Johansson, moreover, pulls out all the stops and shows she can act as well as just look gorgeous — and sexier than ever as a scheming heartless femme fatale. Hats off to both Woody and Scarlett for a perfectly realized neo Film Noir. Alfred would have loved it!An extra dessert for Opera fans; Since both leading men are opera lovers the musical score is made up entirely of opera excerpts with remastered Caruso recordings and oodles of Verdi arias commenting subtly on the proceedings of this amoral operatic film noir masterpiece.
