Match Point Movie Review:


What’s luck got to do with it? Practically everything, according to “Match Point,” a new movie by Woody Allen. The film follows an opportunistic, Dublin-born former tennis pro who becomes rich and successful in London through marriage to the sister of a wealthy friend. When his new lifestyle becomes threatened by an affair with a sexy wannabe actress, the apprehensive man takes drastic steps to solve his problem. Will his luck hold out or will he pay for his misdeeds? Unfortunately, although billed as a thriller, the film offers very little suspense and fails to present major characters we care about.

On the plus side, “Match Point” boasts beautiful shots of London (Notting Hill, the South Bank Arts Complex, etc.) and glorious opera music in the background of many scenes. And Scarlett Johansson (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”) looks absolutely stunning as the femme fatale. She exudes a kind of Marilyn Monroe-type vulnerability here which, sadly, isn’t enough to evoke much sympathy for the demanding woman her character becomes. Johansson’s steamy love scenes with Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (“Bend It Like Beckham”), who seems miscast in the lead role, appear a bit too frantic, and her melodramatic behavior during the last part of the film doesn’t come off as convincing as it should. However, this performance earned her a 2005 Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe nomination, so maybe I’m being too harsh on this usually wonderful young actress.

Also hard to believe is the wife played by Emily Mortimer (who was totally genuine in “Dear Frankie”). Yes, some women might be as naïve as her character – but not one with such immense resources at her disposal and for the length of time depicted in “Match Point.”

Some critics have expressed disappointment with Woody Allen for cannibalizing “Crimes and Misdemeanors” in the making of Match Point; a few even call this latest film a remake of his earlier drama. That doesn’t bother me. My biggest problems with this movie relate to a lack of energy from Rhys-Meyers and the film’s snail-like pace. To say I’m surprised about Rhys-Meyers’ lackluster acting is definitely an understatement. The handsome young actor bowled me over with his enthusiastic performance in T.V.’s “Elvis.” In contrast, as an anti-hero in “Match Point,” he projects very little screen charisma. Perhaps the director wanted to tone down everything in order to create a more stiff-upper-lip British feel to the story. If so, it’s Allen’s fault -- not Rhys-Meyers’.

Under Allen’s direction, “Match Point” moves so slowly that when something actually happens, it’s too late to stimulate much interest in the proceedings. Yes, the last part of the film manages to resemble a thriller; there’s a murder and a police investigation. And the ending gives viewers a question to ponder: how important is luck -- rather than justice -- in determining our future? By that time, however, I had already tuned out on “Match Point,” mostly because it’s a movie with no heart or soul.



Betty Jo Tucker

Another change of genre for Allen (film noir), this is also his first film set entirely outside New York, and perhaps his first to break the two-hour mark. And it feels it. Even though it's a gripping, fascinating story.

Chris Wilton (Rhys Meyers) is a tennis pro at a London club, who's invited to the opera by one of his posh clients, the young Tom Hewett (Goode). Soon Chris starts dating Tom's sister Chloe (Mortimer). But he's also secretly in love with Tom's American fiance Nola (Johansson), and as time passes he has trouble making up his mind about what he wants. Bad decisions lie ahead, as do birth, death, suspicion and guilt.

"I'd rather be lucky than good." This is the phrase that echoes in Chris' head both on and off the tennis court. And Allen insidiously examines the idea from all sides using fascinating characters who seem to exist in a parallel universe, namely upper class Britain. This is a realistic view of these jolly snobs, although it seems corny because people can't really be this privileged and oblivious, can they?

Allen lets them circle around each other with a seeming banality, while something truly creepy gurgles under the surface. When he avoids moralising, it's powerful stuff, but then he adds a couple of unnecessary scenes near the end that make it drag badly and undermine his premise with arch references (Sophocles?) and some contrived events. Even as he layers in a clever sense of irony, he muddles the film with a cheesy police investigation that forces an unneeded and extended closure on the events.

Performances are very strong. Rhys Meyers is good as a man who makes a few very bad choices, although he doesn't add the extra depth that would make Chris' moral dilemma truly resonate. Johansson and Mortimer are excellent, delivering riveting, astonishingly naturalistic performances as two very different women who are sure of what they want. Along with the terrific supporting cast, Allen's human drama comes sharply to life, and if you can get past the film's few potholes, it has the power to really make you squirm.



Rich Cline

In recent years, eccentric and highly praised director Woody Allen has been mainly focused on the lighter side of comedy. Well for the most part.

Last year, we saw him start to drift back to more serious and examining fair with “Melinda and Melinda” which was a detailed look at a woman’s life through two different lenses, comedy and tragedy. The film wasn’t a complete success but it did start a new direction for Allen’s films.

Allen has always loved examining the comedic and tragic sides of life. “Match Point” is by far his best film since “The Sweet Lowdown” or “Bullets Over Broadway”. This new film is very much in his tragic side of films.

The story centers on Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), a fading tennis pro who meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), a well off and highly established bachelor who is dating the alluring Nola (Scarlett Johansson) who he plans to marry despite his family’s protests.

Chris is quite taken with Nola and becomes obsessed with Tom’s life. Chris marries Tom’s sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) whom he has grown close to. But Nola is never far from his mind.

When Tom and Nola split up, Chris begins to live a double life as he pursues Nola while still enjoying the rich life with Chloe. It is only a matter of time before Chris’s life begins to implode.

Allen’s examination of the duality of Chris is very inspiring and Rhys-Meyers portrays Chris with such intensity it is hard not to get into him.

Johansson plays the perfect luscious femme fatale role so perfectly I was reminded of so many other great tragic love stories.

In a much understated performance, Mortimer brings the internal struggle of Chloe to life with such ease and delicate restraint. In every scene Mortimer is able to show so much with the slightest look or glance.

I had some problems with the pacing of the film and I felt that some of the more interesting supporting players were ignored like James Nesbitt’s police inspector. There were some nice little scenes with Nesbitt but I wanted so much more.

I also felt no sympathy for the character of Tom which I think there needed to be more conflict in him or another layer because he comes off as a vacuous playboy. I would have liked to have seen him more developed so he could be more of a rival for Chris.

Rhys-Meyers, Johansson and Mortimer are brilliant and once more Allen does a wonderful job with the central focus of the film but like a lot of his films in recent years he strays from developing the supporting players.

I like that Allen is swinging back into tragedy because his clever dialogue and conflicted performances are always a real gem to watch when he isn’t solely focused on the laughs.



So Says the Soothsayer

Dean Kish

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