Match Point (2005)

People are voting emotionally.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

By exactly the 115 minute of this film's runtime I already made up my mind this film was a four as I saw how boringly obvious the end was going to, but exactly two minutes before the end the FOUR turned to an EIGHT just suddenly! As simple as the end was, it also was a mind flipping! WATCH IT, Scarlet looked fantastic too ;)

The idea that much of a person's life is determined simply by chance is an idea that one often wants to ignore. We plan too much, make too many decisions, and have too much control to consider the fact that to a large degree our fate is out of our hands. Woody Allen explores fate and chance in an incredible way in his 2005 film Match Point. Both written and directed by the auteur, Match Point represents a departure for Woody Allen as the first of his films to be shot in London, contain no Woody Allen character, and is the first thriller-type film for the constant genre hopper. There is no such thing as a typical Woody Allen film, I've gone to great lengths to dispel that notion and now seeing 40 of his films in a row, I will never be convinced that he is as one-dimensional as he is often accused. Match Point stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson as two individuals who are desperate to enter the fold of the wealthy, so desperate in fact that they are willing to abandon their identities in order to achieve financial riches. A piercing look at the philosophical issues connected to morality and a scathing assessment of class-consciousness, Woody Allen lands on the right side of the net with Match Point.Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a fish out of water in his new position as a tennis instructor at an upscale London tennis club. Previously earning a living as a professional tennis player, Chris couldn't accustom to the constant traveling and wished to find a place to call home. Raised by a modest family in Ireland, Chris believes he sticks out like a sore thumb amongst the London elite. Desperate to fit in and leave his one-bedroom flat, Chris will do anything he needs to in order to come into more money. An opportunity arises when he begins providing lessons for wealthy club member Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode). Throughout the course of their lessons, Chris and Tom become friends and Chris meets Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who instantly finds herself attracted to Chris. Chloe has had an easy ride through life with more money than she's known where to spend and a father who will stop at nothing to make her happy, which essentially includes buying her a boyfriend. Chris is offered a job in one of Chloe's father's companies ensuring that his livelihood would be at stake if he were to ever leave Chloe. That knowledge doesn't stop Chris from becoming attracted to Tom's girlfriend Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson) Nola is a struggling actress from America who is anxious to be brought into the fold of the aristocratic life. Nola, like many, doesn't want to struggle for money nor does she seem apt to put too much into her craft and would much rather marry into a good life. The passion Chris and Nola feel for each other is unable to be ignored and the two begin an affair, leaving Chris to decide if it is worth sacrificing the unfulfilled life that has been arranged for him to pursue the wild card that is Nola. Toto, we"re not in New York anymore. Granted, this was not the first, nor would it be the last time Woody would shoot a film outside of New York but Woody Allen is synonymous in my mind with New York so it is always a shock for me to see a film of his in a different location. Match Point, like every Woody Allen film, has a brilliant opening monologue discussing the notion that most aspects of life are out of our control. The idea that we have no control over our lives brings about an interesting philosophical argument: If life is so meaningless we can't even control it, why not dismiss morality in order to give us the most pleasure. John Stuart Mill probably would have loved Match Point. There isn't a likable character that we ever see on screen, the audience is simply introduced to a host of people who exercise whatever means necessary to bring themselves the most pleasure. A brilliant bit of casting makes the audience wonder just what Chris is capable of from the first time we lay eyes on him. "To never have been born may be the greatest boon of all", this Sophocles quote makes an appearance again in a Woody Allen film but is better explored through the plot of Match Point. Since we're here, we may as well make the best of this existence and those in the film certainly draw no lines while chasing their particular blends of happiness. In addition to the philosophy commonly explored in Woody Allen's films, he also opens fire against the conflict in classes that still exists today. Nola desperately wants to be on the same playing field as her boyfriend Tom, but all doors seem to be closed to that possibility due to her being below his social standing, a fact that both are constantly reminded of by Tom's mother. Social standings are such that no matter how happy Tom is with Nola, she will never be welcome, ultimately causing their separation. Woody Allen makes a fantastic film questioning life's big issues all the while taking a scathing look at the societal constraints affecting everyone. Match Point is certainly not to be missed simply because it isn't a "funny one".

Woody Allen's "Match Point" at 53rd San Sebastian in 20052EE648C9-20F9-4C8F-8452-7DC284AC5808The dominant theme at the festival this year was Hitchcock with Hitchcock imagery everywhere celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Master of Suspense. Though there actually are no films by Hitchcock on view, several films are in a way a homage to the master. "Match Point", the latest from Woody Allen is a vast departure from his usual form and is, in effect, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller filmed in London no less, with an entirely English cast except for a smashingly sexy Scarlett Johansson in a most uncharacteristic vamp role, as the sole American presence – (and what a presence she is!). Young Scarlett really sets the celluloid aflame in this stylish shot out of Mr. Konigsberg's Twilight Zone, with savvy support from Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the freaked-out lover-killer who in the end will go unpunished.... No sidewalks of New York, no neurotic Jews, no sly jokes and one liners, just a straightforward English psychodrama made with such aplomb you would never guess it was a Woody Allen film if you missed the opening credits. In a way it does hark back to Woody's Crimes and Misdemeanors, but only because of the theme of getting away with murder. Rhys is a professional but impoverished tennis instructor and bald faced social climber with clients in high society. His character marries into a wealthy family, but his social position is threatened by a steamy extra-marital affair with his new brother-in-law's girlfriend, played by Johansson. When Johansson claims to be pregnant and insists that he leave his wife for her -- which would bring down the whole world he has strived so hard to attain - she signs her death warrant. Rhys goes to her apartment, shoots her to death (in a shocking sequence) and makes it look like a robbery to obtain drugs. The rest is a cat and mouse interrogation by a Scotland yard detective with echoes of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. His skin is saved by a twist of fate similar to a tennis ball suspended momentarily on the net which could fall either way. This is, of course, the Match Point of the title. Instead of a tennis ball we have an incriminating ring from the scene of the crime which accidentally gets dumped onto the ground after teetering on a rail by the river where Rhys is disposing of other evidence from the scene of the crime. We find out that the ring was picked up by a junkie who got killed but now appears to be the indisputable culprit who killed Johansson. Case closed. Our anti-hero gets away with murder. Everything handled just right by Allen to produce a tight thriller with the kinds of twists and turns that mirror Hitchcock to a tee. Not only is this a. "return to form" for Woody, but a venture into fresh new territory -- straight drama with not a single laugh --and done like an expert born to the cloth. Most enjoyable film with an entirely new Scarlett Jo! as an astonishingly sexy femme fatale.

ALLEN ENTERS NEW TERRITORY WITH "MATCH POINT"Viewed at 2005 San Sebastian Film Festival featuring centenary homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Though there were no films by Hitchcock on view, several films are in a way a homage to the master. "Match Point", the latest from Woody Allen is a vast departure from his usual form and is, in effect, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller filmed in London no less, with an entirely English cast except for a smashingly sexy Scarlett Johansson in a most uncharacteristic vamp role, as the sole American presence – (and what a presence she is!). At a turning point in his life, an unscrupulous social climbing former tennis pro falls for a scrumptuous femme-fatal type (Scarlett Jo) who happens to be dating his new best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Her blatant irresistibility forces him to tread a skittery fine line between acceptance or expulsion from the high society he has edged his way into -- like a tennis ball teetering on top of the net at a decisive win-or-lose "match point". Also the metaphor for which way the evidence will fall when he is a suspect in Scarlett's shocking but necessary murder. Young Scarlett really sets the celluloid aflame in this stylish shot out of Mr. Konigsberg's Twilight Zone, with sensitive support from Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the freaked-out lover-killer who in the end will go unpunished. Woody has strayed from comedy before with mixed results but this no-nonsense edge of the seat entry into typical Hitchcockian territory demonstrates his versatility as nothing before. The tennis background is perfectly employed to a breath-taking conclusion where a tennis ball teeters momentarily on the top of the net and can fall either way. Johansson, moreover, pulls out all the stops and shows she can act as well as just look gorgeous — and sexier than ever as a scheming heartless femme fatale. Hats off to both Woody and Scarlett for a perfectly realized neo Film Noir. Alfred would have loved it!An extra dessert for Opera fans; Since both leading men are opera lovers the musical score is made up entirely of opera excerpts with remastered Caruso recordings and oodles of Verdi arias commenting subtly on the proceedings of this amoral operatic film noir masterpiece.