People Who Hate Woody Allen Movies Might Love This One

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2007)

No, this is not your typical Woody Allen movie. First, it isn't a comedy. Second, unless you were well versed in Woody Allen movies, you'd never think that "Match Point" was a Woody Allen movie. Third, the plot takes place beyond Woody's usual haunts. Basically, a tennis instructor Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers of "Mission Impossible III") falls into the good life when one of his tennis students, Tom Hewitt (Matthew Goode of " befriends him. He thinks that everything in life is the result of luck. The protagonist--because he certainly shouldn't be considered heroic--quits teaching tennis. He marries his good friend's sister Chloe Hewitt (sweet Emily Mortimer of "Pink Panther"), but he falls recklessly in love with his friend's girlfriend, Nola Rice (sultry Scarlett Johansson of "The Island"), a struggling actress looking for roles in England, and they have a torrid affair that he must conceal from Chloe. Meanwhile, poor Chloe complains that she cannot have a baby and Chris and she visit many fertility experts and struggle to have a child. At the same time, the other woman, Nola, gets pregnant. Initially, the husband (Rhys Meyers) was infatuated with Nola, but his star rises because his father-in-law, Alec Hewitt (Brian Cox of "The Glimmer Man")hires him to work in his huge company. Things are exploding for the protagonist at this time. He is assured of wealth and happiness and the very thing he sought outside of his marriage becomes an anathema to him. This synopsis takes "Match Point" up to about the first hour and a half of its two hour plus running time. Woody Allen paces this melodrama superbly and he captures the English way of life and language. I cannot reveal what happens in the last 36 minutes. Indeed, I was on my feet, walking around as I watched those last 36 minutes. The suspense--based on the outcome of this feature--was simply unbearable. The suspense doesn't end until the last three minutes of the film and Allen has you on the edge of your seat throughout those final 36 minutes. Women probably won't like this Woody Allen movie for its incredible, unpredictable ending. I still cannot believe how surprised that I was when the movie finally did end. The performances are flawless; nobody delivers a bad performance. The two detectives at the end of the movie were fantastic! One of them is the fantasdtic Ewen Bremner of "Alien Vs. Predator"). When I bought this previously viewed DVD from Movie Gallery, I thought that I was in for a typical, run-of-the-mill Woody Allen drama. Boy, was I mistaken!