Could this be Woody Allen's Best Work?

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2011)

Chris is a former tennis pro who gives it up to teach at an exclusive club. The club owner's daughter falls for him and a romance blooms. Unfortunately, things are not that simple: his passion is for another woman, a struggling American actress.
This is not your traditional Woody Allen film. The man himself does not appear, the humor is toned down to the point of being non-existent, and the verbose vocabulary Allen often employs is not to be found. We are also placed squarely in upper class London, not the usual stomping grounds of Manhattan. Indeed, there is little here to suggest an Allen film at all.
The closest we come to any obvious intellectual subtext is early on we see a copy of the "Cambridge Companion to Dostoevsky", something that comes into play later on, with Chris invoking the spirit of Raskolnikov. What is the significance of "The Motorcycle Diaries"? Do the operas they take in tell a parallel story? If so, and I would not be surprised, this was clearly over my head.
There is a dichotomy of "luck" and "faith", with the protagonist preferring the former and abandoning the latter. The concept of faith does not come up often, but luck sneaks in every now and then, and could be said to play a crucial role at a few points, twisting the plot is unforeseen directions. Indeed, if you watch the first hour and do not understand the high praise this film gets, keep watching. The sharp divergence in the second half will keep you glued to your seat -- this is tension at its very best.
There is a second dichotomy of stability and passion. Clearly, being involved with the boss's daughter has a certain appeal. Wealth, connections and not a care in the world. But the sex is "mechanical" with such non-arousing comments as, "I want you to make me pregnant." The foreigner is something exotic (literally), unpredictable, and enticing. Is love grounded in passion or something else? Who knows? But passion is a strong force on man.
There could have been a social message about class. Chris is clearly from a lower class background in Ireland, and through hard work and diligence has worked his way up to the good graces of the upper class with their tennis, opera and exclusive clubs. Nola is also from the lower class, with a hard-drinking mother, but she hides it well. Yet these class distinctions never seem to come to a head -- the same story could have been told any time in any place. It is, above all, a parable of fidelity.
Ironically, even though not a comedy, this ranks among Woody Allen's best work. The story is strong, unique and looks sharp. We can feel sympathetic with Chris while simultaneously despising him. And Scarlett Johannsen looks sexier here than any other film I can think of, which is a feat in itself. Solid script, directing, acting and more... this truly is a masterpiece in every sense of the word.