Woody at his best

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2006)

There are moments when watching the best Woody Allen films when I feel that they're so good that Woody seems to be operating on a completely different level to any other filmmaker alive. I had that feeling again when watching Match Point. It's a serious film, Woody's first in quite a while and opens intriguingly with a shot of a tennis ball hitting the top of the net and getting suspended in mid-air, leaving viewers wondering whether the ball will drop in front of or behind the net. This nicely sets the tone for a film dealing with luck and making the most of lucky breaks which fall your way as well as the age old question of love vs money. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is Chris, a young working class tennis instructor who, after landing a job at a posh London tennis club, befriends Tom, an upper class pupil, who introduces Chris to his family. Chris starts seeing Tom's sister, Chloe, who quickly falls in love with him. Chloe's father secures a plum job for Chris within his company and the couple proceed to marry. It's really a marriage of convenience for Chris who recklessly starts an affair with Nola, Tom's fiancée, a poor but sultry young actress from America and this intensifies after Tom and Nola split up. Chris seems happy enough juggling both women until Nola drops the bombshell that she is pregnant and Chris is suddenly forced to choose between the two. Nola urges Chris to leave Chloe. Chris' relationship with Nola seemed to be primarily sex-driven but it's now clear that they have feelings for each other which run deep. Chis does want to leave Chloe, who he has never really loved, but can't bring himself to tell her. There's a brilliant and very tense scene when Chloe actually asks Chris if he's having an affair; it's the ideal moment for Chris to confess to Chloe and he almost does, but backs out at the last moment. With matters threatening to spiral out of control, Chris resorts to murder to eliminate Nola and their unborn child. Why does he do this? The simple reason is money. As Chris reveals in a heart-to-heart with a close friend, he's gotten used to a certain lifestyle. Ultimately, Chris chooses his glamorous job, chauffeur-driven car and penthouse flat overlooking the Thames over a financially uncertain future with the woman he loves. There's an interesting scene towards the end of the film where Chris throws a ring linked to one of the murders he's committed towards the Thames in order to dispose of the evidence; his throw isn't good enough and the ring strikes the top of a barrier and floats in the air above in a mirror-image of the opening tennis ball scene. When it lands on the ground instead of in the river this seems to be a bad omen for Chris but luck intervenes and it actually ends up helping him considerably. By the end of the film Chris has literally gotten away with murder and his marriage and lifestyle are intact. It's definitely not a crowd-pleasing ending but it's entirely in keeping with the film's message which is that bad people can and do profit from luck just as much as good people. I thought the film's ending was both different and refreshing given that the murderer predictably gets caught in 99% of movies/TV/books. The film's faults are pretty minor - the dialogue sounds occasionally stilted (probably due to Woody being more used to writing for American characters) and the speed and intensity with which Tom's wealthy family embrace a nobody like Chris is somewhat unrealistic. That aside, this is an outstanding film, totally gripping from beginning to end and a reminder of what a truly great filmmaker Woody Allen is.