Relentlessly gripping from start to finish

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2006)

After a slew of less than successful films, it seemed that Woody Allen, who it seemed at one point could never fail, had lost his touch, become too dated and formulaic to appeal to modern day audiences. Wisely enough, Allen seems to have realized the best way to stay fresh and interesting is an abrupt change of pace, of base of operations, of genre and of style. The most noticeable difference in Allen's latest, 'Match Point' is the fact that he forgoes his usual NYC setting, replacing it instead with upper crust English society. Also, gone is the light comedic tone and neurotic lead characters who seem only a shallow echo of Allen himself - here we have very different personas spouting significantly different lines than those we are used to hearing in an Allen film.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a fallen from grace ex tennis pro who marries into wealth to raise his social standing. With a beautiful and enthusiastic wife (Emily Mortimer), her very British brother who Chris instructed in tennis and introduced him to the family (Matthew Goode) and more importantly, their very rich and generous father (Brian Cox) who lands Chris a high ranking position in his business firm, it seemed that Chris had gone from virtually nothing to everything he could ever want in a nauseatingly short time. But Chris' stable and very successful life is rapidly brought to a staggering halt when he is introduced to American actress Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson) who he instantly falls for, despite her being engaged to his future brother-in-law. Complications ensue as Chris and Nola try to decide whether their affections for each other would be worth compromising their very secure lives for each other.
Although the main feel of the story may be different territory for Allen, the underlying profundity of the narrative is still there. All throughout the story, we as an audience find ourselves forced to confront the issue "is passion more desirable than stability?" and likely applying it to our own lives as well. Allen's script is excellent, making so much more out of what could have been a very cheesy and unoriginal story, with numerous great lines only touching on being pretentious at times, but this is largely masked by the two excellent leads and great supporting cast.
Performances are excellent across the board, especially from the two leads, who are the main focus of the show, and are easy capable enough of maintaining our interest. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is excellent in the lead as Chris, the ex-tennis pro who grows bored and unhappy with his unnervingly stable life - he really brings Chris' conflicting emotions to play in a truly compelling fashion. Scarlett Johansson is also great as Nola Rice, the unsuccessful actress who also finds herself tempted to choose passion over stability in her life. Despite common sentiments that she was only cast due to her looks, Johansson gives a very strong performance, though it's true that her absolutely stunning beauty is a highlight of the show. There is also excellent support from Emily Mortimer as Chris' wife, who is very nice though not terribly interesting with her constant desire to get pregnant, the very British Matthew Goode as Nola's fiancée, and Brian Cox as Chris' very rich father in law, who essentially secures him a position in life. Cox avoids stereotyping by underplaying the feigned kindness with a streak of intimidation, and his performance is superb - as are everyone else's. In fact, the only real downside of casting is the horrendously stereotypical British police officer, who comes across as hilarious at one of the most crucial and not intended to be funny parts of the movie.
Allen has created a truly excellent piece of work here, as Match Point is relentlessly gripping from start to finish. Despite its seemingly simple storyline, we as an audience still manage to be taken aback by each twist of the story, and the ending is nothing less than genuinely surprising, as well as very satisfactory for having not taken the easy way out in storytelling terms. Intrigued? You'll just have to see Match Point for yourself... chances are you won't be disappointed.
-8/10