Woody deserves more credit for this one

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2006)

Many reviewers of this film really miss the boat; some can't see Allen as anything but a comedic writer and others have questioned the central plot element in this particular film. Match Point does have a subtle comic undertone, which Allen uses to pass judgment on the peculiarities of upper-class British life (as viewed by an American), but its essence is (as in Crimes and Misdemeanours) on serious issues of morality (and sexual obsession). There's almost no one making commercial-run films that explore moral issues this well. I don't agree that C&M was better, just different -- and surely this subject is important enough to merit further consideration. I fully enjoyed this film but, more than that, I found interesting and provocative his contemplation of murdering someone because you can't be bothered to think of a better solution to maintain your comfortable existence. Surely he raises this question again now because it's remarkably analogous to the situation in Iraq. The little scene at the end, raising the issue of whether "collateral damage" of innocents is acceptable to "achive a higher goal," is clearly there to raise this question. I think he parodies a certain British sense of entitlement because he's also very much considering the incredible inability of Americans to realize that their own position in the world is due to luck as much as hard work, and the decision to use war to maintain this position rested on as questionable a moral foundation as the one portrayed here.