Review of Match Point (2005) by Mili B — 07 May 2010

First Woody Allen film I have reviewed it seems! This is of course quite a different looking film from him and was surprised when I heard, but I got to see it and this is what I think :).

I started to watch, roll on the opening titles, which got me very excited cause it was in the usual Allen italics :D Opened on a beautiful shot of tennis balls swooping over a net (Strangely enough I played tennis on the day, so an appropriate film for this day in particular) And then the introduction of the characters and the story. Now, I've got to say that for the first hour of this film, I wasn't very impressed. It irritatingly didn't feel very Allenesque, and I was beginning to feel that if it wasn't written and directed by him then I would've been enjoying it more inna way.

But the excitement rises in the second half of the film, when things get a liiiiittle more tense. This second half was absolutly sensational and truly magnificent filmmaking and it showed me that it had all been leading up to these shocking events that would unfold. My breath was literally taken away when the twists are revealed. I can't say more without giving it away, and trust me, you don'twant to know beforehand.This was the first thriller I have seen by Woody Allen, and as I said I was a bit cautious at first whether he could pull it off. And he most certainly has! This is another reason why he is becoming one of my favourite filmmakers, it seems he could quite probably pull of every genre if he wanted too. Not to mention that he has technically made his own genre!

A clever story about terrible guilt and justice. With simply amazing and shocking revelations. When watched for a second time, I found the first half too be much more entertaining when you see the dynamics of the piece and have the ending in mind. Just a brilliant drama/thriller :).