I am not normally a fan of Woody Allen. In fact, I generally avoid his films. However, my wife was interested in Match Point, which features a couple of actors (Matthew Goode, Emily Moritmer and Scarlett Johansson) that I like. So I took the opportunity to reassess my appreciation for Woody Allen films and found this film to be a gem that was worth my two hour investment.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a tennis player turned instructor. He wants to do bigger things with his life than touring with tennis or teaching. That opportunity begins to evolve when he begins instructing Tom Hewett (Goode). The two men hit it off due to their shared interests. Wilton is invited to attend the opera with the Hewett family, where he catches the eye of Tom's sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer). A courtship ensues immediately.
Wilton's personal success takes an immediate upward turn, thanks in large part to the generosity of Chloe's father, Alec (Brian Cox). However, Wilton appears ready to compromise his entire career and relationship with Chloe to pursue Tom's girlfriend, Nola (Johansson). The relationship between Wilton and Nola progresses while Wilton attempts to balance his career and his relationship with Chloe. His ability to lie and manipulate appear to be boxing Wilton into a corner with no way out. When Nola becomes pregnant and refuses to "sort it" Wilton risks everything on his "match point." His entire future is going to depend on a what type of bounce he gets.
Woody Allen has a tendency to bore me to tears. However, his carefully constructed drama in Match Point won me over. While I was aggravated at the lead character, I couldn't help but continue watching his descent deeper and deeper into his world constructed of lies. The film builds the drama nicely, creating a bit of suspense, while not necessarily a nail-biter. The ending was deep, purposeful and annoying. While it was unique and creative, it also left me dissatisfied. Rather than hitting on spoilers, suffice it to say that this film doesn't package everything neatly with a bow. Not that that type of film is best, but sometimes it is preferable.
The cast was exceptional. I have liked Mortimer ever since I saw her in Lars and the Real Girl. She is a great actress that uses her modest beauty to her fullest advantage. Johansson matches elegant beauty with crisp performances that are enjoyable to watch. Goode has a smaller role, but was excellent as usual. Meyers was exceptional in the lead role. Wilton's ability to manipulate was softened by Meyers performance. His interpretation of the character gave it a mild likability. An exceptional cast made a difficult movie that occasionally had sluggish pacing manage to hold my attention.
I am not sure why the MPAA gave Match Point an R Rating, but it probably had to do with sexuality along with violence. There is never any nudity, but there are a couple of brief sex scenes. Tame stuff, really. The violence involves two murders that are not actually depicted. We only witness the shooter pulling the trigger. The film had some language elements, plenty of drinking and some adult situations. Overall, it was not heavy stuff, but enough to keep to a teenage audience or above.
I enjoyed Match Point. I am glad I gave Woody Allen another go. I generally don't care for his films, in spite of the brilliance that is often attributed to his work. Personally, I find most of his films tedious. At least the few that I have seen. This film is interesting, with some nice suspense thrown in. The characters are intricate, the performances flawless and the dialogue fresh. While it bogged down at times (it could have been trimmed from a 2 hour 4 minute run time), it wasn't excessively sluggish. Just slow at times. 8/10.
