The Rare Genius of Woody Allen

Rating: 10/10 (6 June 2006)

Once in a while, in the midst of the movies Mr. Allen produces annually, one will stand out and shine. Match Point is just such a film, and the story is quite perfect. Finally, Mr. Allen has come to his senses and put aside the stupidity of the art world, the false coffee shop philosophy, and his own pretentiously fidgety idiosyncrasies to create a movie about not-so-legitimate modern life issues.
Match Point is about the confluence of yuppie life and criminal behavior. In this movie, there is no difference, for pushing ahead and striving for the first task means an inevitable downfall into the second path. This is exactly what has been done well, and this is what makes this film worth seeing.
Unlike Mr. Allen's other movies, he takes a dive into attacking elitism. This is carefully done, without overcooking, and we see that the whole movie begins to surround greed and lust, common trends in films, from the very beginning. No doubt, Mr. Allen's camera angles are evident throughout  highlighting his passion for the characters and who their inner personality really is.
It seems almost impossible to separate the ideas that are presented in this film. Truly, Mr. Allen's departure from his normal work is a positive sign, for he hasn't lost his touch at all. In fact, his touch is sporadic. There are some sporadic moments of genius in most of his films, but the rare genius of Mr. Allen is not so often a continual presence in his movies.
The film stars Scarlett Johannsson as the seductive Nola, and no one else is important enough in Hollywood to be noticed. Rated R, I am sure, for a film in the vein of realism.
RATING: 10/10
"Sometimes, you just need a little luck"