Match Point (Allen, 2005)

[X.]

Sharply observed drama about fate, infidelity and our urge to rise above our circumstances. The subtle change in the film's tone, from drama to murder thriller, is Woody Allen's sinister twist of the knife. Allen's writing is impeccable, and his skill of word economy for a story steeped in realism is clearly evident here. The narrative is tightly woven around a British upperclass family; this is Allen's chance for a thinly vieled attack on social discrimination, the truth that money and power corrupts absolutely. Scarlett Johansson's Nola and Jonathan Rhys Meyer's Chris are chemically similar -- both hail from a low culture and are smitten by the glitter of easy success. Their falling in love (even if it is one-sided) is natural. But Chris who has always lost is not ready for defeat. He asks Hewetts not to underestimate luck ("People are often afraid to realize how much of an impact luck plays") and is a man who has probably lost his soul ("It would be fitting if I were apprehended...and punished. At least there would be some small sign of justice -- some small measure of hope for the possibility of meaning.") There are philosophical questions about ethics, Chris reads Dostoevsky and may have figured out the ambivalence of living, logic or morality, love or lust? Allen is very concerned about developing his characters: Brian Cox is  brilliant as the wealthy father who keeps reminding Chris -- even after he and Emily Mortimer's Chloe are married -- that as long as Chris keeps Chloe happy, he can count on him as a "safety net." Cox's Hewett perhaps understands it better than anyone of them: we want relative comfort, and money provides it. ak


Rating:
1/2 out of 

[animatedude]

i saw Match Point on the big screen back in March and NOTHING spoke to me more than that movie at that time.i was so depressed and it just summrized everything i was feeling at that time in one little movie.

"I'd rather be lucky than good"

[fizz]

Ak! I watched this last night!

It blew my senses away. I was writing a mini review but you've actually pretty brilliantly summarized everything excellent I found about this film, from its attack on social classes to the need of the main character to rise to the top. The way the dinner scene was played out with Rhys Meyer ordering chicken and his future fiancee telling him how boring it was was so vividly real. I like the fact that Match point is the work of an established director who takes a risky turn and provides such a fulfilling payoff.

The denounement had me racing with thoughts. What a fascinating film this was, near perfect, I have nothing negative to say about it.

Rating: 5/5

[animatedude]

speaking of Woody Allen, anyone else think his segment in New York Stories is brilliant?

[shariqq]

** Spoiler Warning **

Stunning. This quiet little film turns out to be the best quite little film I have ever seen. The movie is a one-man character-sketch: the man being Jonathan Rhys Meyer's Chris. Chris is a working class man who marries into an upper-class family. He ends up being a social zombie who tries very hard to fit in (learning to enjoy things he's never done) while living the comfortably numb life of dead desires. His love of this inherited lifeestyle eventually consumes the one escape he gets: a passionate affair with Scarlett Johansson's Nola.

As much as I was liking the movie, I could hear my mind shouting "cop out" in what I expected to be a filmy climax - but the closing scenes of the movie take it from a movie that *I Like* to a movie *I Admire*. As fizz says in his post, there is nothing negative to say about this wonderful wonderful movie. Can't wait for a few months to pass, so I may watch it again.

Rating: 4.5/5

[madali]

Match Point (2005)
IMDB Link

Not a whining Jew in sight. Are we sure this is a Woody Allen movie?

I’m actually stereotyping since I’ve only seen a few Woody Allen movie, but none have been like “Match Point”. It is about people and love. Ohhh, people and love, sounds so serious. And it is. Woody Allen isn’t joking around here. No, this is serious shit, people. Lot of important topics are raised, the human condition is put in question, morality, all of it. You know how serious this is? I’ll tell you. It is set in United Kingdom. You can’t get more serious than the English. And not your random English, no, the posh, rich kind. With Tennis matches. And an opera sound track.

You come into “Match Point”, you better be wearing your serious face, because otherwise you won’t enjoy this. Good thing I always carry mine with me, so I had a jolly good time.

Not that jolly, because my serious face is “Made in China”.

In all seriousness, I don’t think we can make fun of China like that for much longer. Considering how fast it is growing, the term “Made in China” won’t mean bad quality. This doesn’t have much to do with the movie, but the future of the Chinese economy is serious, right?

3/5

[shariqq]

c'mon - you can do a better review than that, no?

[madali]

No, I'll leave the intellectualizing to you guys.