Luck and Deceit

Rating: 9/10 (7 January 2006)

Greetings again from the darkness. Despite his lack of box office pop, Woody Allen has always been a terrific writer of relationship chaos. He also has recorded his love of New York City on film for the past 30 years. In what is his best work since "Crimes and Misdemeanors", and belonging in the same high class as "Manhattan" and "Annie Hall", "Match Point" has Mr. Allen exploring these same relationship topics within his newly discovered Britain setting.
With the recurring theme of luck (the word is used at least 11 times in the script), the film takes Chris, a former Irish tennis pro ("Bend it Like Beckham" coach Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) and tosses him into the upper crust of the British elite. Surprisingly enough, he fits right in. Not so surprisingly, he falls in love with wealth and its privileges. An Allen staple, the twists and turns of relationships and family life develop into quite a mess for our tennis boy. Married to, and adored by, rich girl Chloe (played exceedingly well by Emily Mortimer), Chris also falls hard under the spell of sultry, struggling American actress and seductress Nola, slightly overplayed by Scarlet Johansson. Some of the best scenes are the ones exhibiting the entire family, including Chris' in-laws played by Brian Cox (who is the new Gene Hackman - seemingly in half the movies released) and Penelope Wilton ("Pride and Prejudice" "Calendar Girls") and a self-indulgent Matthew Goode (the chasing agent in "Chasing Liberty"). Quite often these scenes occur right before and right after a passionate (way beyond the norm for Allen) tryst between Chris and Nola creating quite the tension for the viewers.
The canvas of London is surprisingly similar to Manhattan as seen through the eye of Allen and this is quite a compliment. Another Allen trademark is his use of music, and opera is the call here. The blending of opera both visually and through the soundtrack provide the tempo and feel that Allen wants us to experience. An interesting side note is that Chris' driver is played by John Fortune, a British TV star.
For those of us who love multi-layered stories and watching people attempt to dig themselves out of their own mess, "Match Point" is a gem. For those looking for any old fashioned Woody humor, head to the video store. This is a grown-up story with twists and turns and is very dark in nature, and I consider myself "lucky" to have seen it.