The Best Film of 2005

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2006)

Many will claim to be disappointed that this is not "a Woody Allen movie." Such is the remark of a lazy viewer. Nevertheless, it is a film made by a competent director who pointedly executes each element. The actors, all typecast, establish themselves early on in their respective parts; and from the beginning, the ball is in motion. What is a tennis game after all? A series of strokes that change the inertia of a ball. What is a match point? It's the play where the score is either reset to deuce, or upset making one player victorious. This one play is the thin thread between the end or another beginning.
Chris (Rhys-Meyers) knows the rules of the tennis game and so he knows that every play in life rests in the hands of luck. And he is lucky, and arrogant enough to deem "lucky" substantial enough an identity. Nola (Johansson) is his pawn, and with a little luck, she is usable and disposable. And the kind but wealthy British family that Chris has infiltrated are also unlucky enough to be used by this tennis pro.
Even though Chris is an adulterer, he is not "a Woody Allen." In fact, Woody Allen, as a character, is nowhere to be found. And what follows from that understanding is a fantasy: a fantasy in which luck rules, and if the protagonist is lucky, he can have it all. He gets his lust and greed fulfilled and he lives happily ever after, if...
This is not a Woody Allen movie, but Woody Allen has crafted a perfect film. The dialogue hits every note, the actors play their games with each other, each with his or her own motivation toward a single prize, and the cinematography captures long and meaningful observations of their faces, thus their deepest thoughts and feelings. Watch Allen's other non-Allen movies like "Another Woman" and ponder the similarities to his hero's work, the films of Ingmar Bergman. Consider that the best work of a filmmaker may be the one from which he or she is able to extract his or her own ego. Think about what it felt like to see your first tennis match. Did you cringe in your seat wondering if the wind might blow luck in the other player's direction? Hats off to 2005 for a terrific year in cinema! However, if you are a learned intellectual, there is one film that will give you enough fuel for discussion over an entire glass of wine and this is it.