Review of Match Point (2005) by Briain D — 09 Dec 2013

Another great film from Woody Allen, and quite different to what we might normally expect from him. Match Point tells the story of Irish tennis player Chris Wilton (an Irish tennis player??) and his attempts to mingle in the British upper class. He befriends Tom, a young man from a very wealthy background and soon becomes friendly with his entire family. He gets engaged and married to Tom's sister, secures a great job thanks to Tom's father (played by the wonderful Brian Cox) and is even accepted by Tom's mother.

This latter character does not, however, accept Tom's girlfriend, Nola Rice (Johansson), whom Chris madly lusts. He puts everything at risk by sensually and provocatively making moves on Nola, finally succeeding and resulting in a lovemaking scene in the very heavy rain just a hundred metres from Tom, Chloe et. al. Things get more and more serious as the film goes on, eventually brimming to boiling point.

Although I was disappointed by Rhys-Meyers' performance, the rest of the acting was of a high standard. Johansson, in particular, stood out with a smooth and very sexy performance. This changes throughout the film as she starts to fall madly for Chris, a transition also played well by Johansson. A very strong point of Allen's direction in this film is the metaphors and imagery related to tennis, specifically the moment when a ball hits the top of the net and, for a moment, could go either way. You'll have to watch the film to see exactly what I mean, but Allen works it superbly so that it has quite an impact on the story.

Overall, a very strong picture from Woody Allen, with a tense story and some effective acting.

On a sidenote, two wonderful comedians, Alexander Armstrong and James Nesbitt appear in small roles.