Woody Allen does Dostoyevsky in London

Rating: 8/10 (23 August 2006)

I've always admired Woody Allen. The sheer number of great films he's made - Hannah and her Sisters, Manhattan, Midsummer Nights Sex Comedy, Everything you Wanted to Know About Sex, Manhattan Murder Mystery etc. Although some of his newer films weren't totally up to speed, I wanted them to be successful (not in the financial sense, but critically).
Match Point is Allen's first film in years to be not only critically but also financially successful. He didn't act in it and its not even a comedy and no its not set in Manhattan. This is a thriller. The lead is an ambitious Irish tennis player who chose not to turn tennis pro and moved to London instead. He gets involved with the only daughter of an upper-upper class businessman (the excellent Brian Cox) who can give a son-in-law a great career. He also falls in love with the businessman's son's fiancée - a struggling American actress played by Scarlet Johannsen (oh she's hot!). I won't say more about the plot and no its nothing like Hannah and her Sisters. Instead, it is partially based on Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment.
I liked the London photography, the artwork and the Enrique Caruso opera piece which was used to great effect. The first scene with Jonathan Rhys-Myer and Scarlet is great. The verbal play reminded me of Bogart and Bacall. But none of their later scenes except the one in the café had that writing spark - less style and more realism which was a little jarring. I also felt Meyers was not a very good lead and acted poorly in several scenes. Emily Mortimer does a good job as Meyer's girlfriend.
I would recommend this as a good but not perfect film.