MATCH POINT (Woody Allen, 2005) ***

Rating: 7/10 (1 May 2006)

I wouldn't say that I'm Woody's biggest fan but, along the years, I've found his writing to be of a consistently high quality. As I was watching this film, I felt guilty of having neglected his recent work - the last Allen title I've watched is SWEET AND LOWDOWN (1999) and, in all, I still have to catch up with 14 of his pictures! - but, by the end of it, I reconfirmed my opinion that his work needs to be taken in small doses...
Considering the praise heaped upon MATCH POINT, many claiming it to be some kind of (belated) turning point in Allen's career, I didn't quite know what to expect. However, when I watched the film I was relieved - but, at the same time, disappointed - to discover that it's nothing if not the old Woody all over again! While I wouldn't quite call his films boring, the relentless barrage of cultural name-dropping in historical/fashionable surroundings - more than his Bergmanesque study of male/female relationships and their neuroses (which is not as pronounced here as in some of his earlier, more austere work anyway) - is decidedly exasperating...and, in the case of this particular film, is further augmented by the posh lifestyle of the characters and the dreary London setting. Besides, listening to Allen's distinctive dialogue being delivered with a British accent proved quite unreal and took some getting used to!
Anyway, what made the film for me was the presence - in both senses - of Scarlett Johannson: not only is she breath-taking to look at (I was extremely lucky to get to see her, and even attended two Press Conferences she did, at the 2004 Venice Film Festival!) but her tackling of the difficult role - as was the case with LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003) - was outstanding, and knowledgeable beyond her years; I've watched only two of the performances nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, but I can't help feeling that she has been snubbed (and that's twice already!).
As for the much-touted final third which turns the film, unexpectedly, into a thriller (not a first for Woody, by the way): Allen directs these scenes like a pro, even taking care to include elements of black comedy and capping all with a devastatingly ironic ending. Bravo! Well, even if the film is not up to the standards of his best serious work (alas, only the first of them has received more than one viewing from me!) - ANNIE HALL (1977), MANHATTAN (1979), HANNAH AND HER SISTERS (1986), CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS (1989) and HUSBANDS AND WIVES (1992) - writing these comments just now has all of a sudden put me in the mood for more of the director's films: I do have four on VHS (though both my VCRs are currently out-of-order!) but, then, my local DVD outlet carries most of his recent work...