Unlikeable characters make this film hard to embrace

Rating: 5/10 (3 August 2006)

Match Point has a pretty interesting story to tell. In fact after seeing the way it ultimately unfolds it would be fair to say the story is ingeniously crafted. All of the principal actors in the film do solid, if not spectacular, work. There's nothing here that you would call a bad performance. So we have a good story told in a very clever way. And we have solid acting all around. Good story, good acting...this film must be a winner right? Well, not so much. And why is that? It's simply because this may be collectively the most unlikeable cast of characters ever thrown up on the big screen. By the time the film plays out you will come to the sad realization that there is nobody here to root for, not a single character in this film worthy of your respect, much less your admiration. The characters range from selfish to arrogant to immoral to downright criminal. So for all the good things Match Point has going for it these characters are so unembraceable by the time the film is over you can't wait to be rid of the whole lot of them. And that is not a recipe for making a film which will be remembered fondly.
Now if you don't mind a film in which all the characters are covered in varied amounts of sleaze there is much to recommend this film. It is a really good, and ultimately very surprising, story. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays the lead role of Chris, a former tennis pro who is now a tennis instructor. He gives a lesson to a wealthy young man, Tom, whose sister, Chloe, takes a liking to Chris and so the romantic entanglements begin. Seeing the potential financial benefits if nothing else Chris enters into a relationship with Chloe even though he, understandably since the character is played by Scarlett Johansson, finds himself much more attracted to struggling American actress Nola who happens to be Tom's fiancée. Oh what a tangled web we weave. The actors playing the Tom and Chloe parts, Matthew Goode and Emily Mortimer respectively, are fine but the real spark in this film comes whenever Meyers and Johansson are together. Johansson simply oozes sex appeal and it is a pleasure to watch her Nola work her charms on Chris. But as you might imagine given the tangled web of relationships here there are inevitably, shall we say, complications. And if you hadn't already been turned off by the rampaging selfishness and immorality of all of these characters the final act will simply make your jaw drop. These are very bad people, rotten to the core, and it is hard to find reason to sympathize with any of them. Given a choice you probably wouldn't want to spend five minutes with any of the characters in this film. In Match Point you are condemned to spend two hours with all of them. If you spent that much time around these characters in real life you'd probably feel as if you needed to take a shower afterwards to wipe away the stench.