What if Roskolnikov was blessed with a little luck?

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2006)

What if Roskolnikov was blessed with a little luck? Woody Allen's brilliant rendition of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Match Point (2005), comes close to answering that question. The film is a quiet abandon of Allen's classic style of quirky and paranoiac storytelling. The staple concrete Manhattan backdrop, that we have come to expect from a Woody Allen flick, has been replaced by the damp grey-white overcast of the London sky. Even the cartoonish banter between the classic Woody Allen characters has taken a side-seat to highly textured dialogue between multidimensional characters. All in all, if it weren't for the ten-second flash of his name in the opening credits, I would have never guessed that Woody Allen wrote and directed this film.
We first meet the protagonist Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a modern-day Roskolnikov, and would-be tennis pro turn tennis instructor, as he enters the filthy-rich world of British aristocracy. We see Chris as a self-made Irishman, who rises from the poorness of his background learning to play the rich man's game  tennis. He soon befriends Tom Hewitt (Matthew Goode) and is introduced into the life of upper-class decadence, during which he meets, and becomes romantically involved with, Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Chris's will is slowly bent, as he is coerced into the Hewitt family business. During this time, he chances upon the breathtaking Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), the fiancée of Tom Hewitt. Soon begins a carefully constructed love-triangle, which through a very Hitchcock-like style of suspense, is cast into motion, one step ahead of the viewer. The anxiety once donned by the classic Woody Allan character, is now offered to the audience to wear, and just like a tennis ball in a rally, the spectator is made to watch the tension bounce back and forth from one character to another.
I'm normally not a big fan of Woody Allan movies, however Match Point definitely surpassed all my expectations. Many critics have viewed this work as proof of the fading director's resurrection. I view it as a piece of solid storytelling from a one of the greatest directors of our time in the winter of his career. Match Point is one of the best films to come out of 2005. Obviously, the movie is not for the average moviegoer, but if you are a fan of fine film-making, definitely check it out.
Similar movies: Closer (2004), Rope (1948), Last Tango in Paris (1972), Sabrina (1954), In Good Company (2004), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)