Compelling

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2007)

Going through the abundant and recently updated collection of my mother's DVDs, fighting to stave off boredom, passing the many titles I'd seen before and the ones I didn't want to see, I came across Match Point. I didn't know anything about it, but seeing that it had the endlessly sensual Scarlett I thought that even if the film itself was a loss I'd have something to watch. Oh, and the rundown on the back sounded interesting enough. I've only just discovered who the director is, and it's been quite some time since I've seen it. My painfully clear lack of attention to detail aside (and please don't take that as a reflection of my comments, it's there when it counts), I liked this film a lot. Well acted, well scripted, well shot and quite thought-provoking. The story is believable when it needs to be, the plot builds perfectly and the characters are real, well developed and likable. Rhys Meyers does brilliantly as a suitably self-confident prat (almost annoyingly so at times, which adds to his character's depth) and is great at conveying the fact that his character is cool and always in control, even when things start going to hell. If you didn't follow the actions and behaviour of his character from start to finish, you'd think he knows instinctively how to handle any situation and it's only through the ending that we're shown why, and what a great ending it is. Unexpected, definitely. Implausible, certainly, as some of the other comments have pointed out as a negative, but for me that just makes it better. Highly recommended.