Terrific timeless character-drama

Rating: 8/10 (10 January 2008)

Personally I was never really into Woody Allen's work. But then there was Match Point, with a story that was very appealing to me, starring people I somehow felt comfortable with. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays an impressive lead as Chris Wilton, an ex tennis pro who becomes a teacher in an expensive tennis club in London.
Here he becomes friends with Tom Hewett (a very decent Matthew Goode). As they get closer, Chris meets Tom's sister Chloë (an ever so sweet Emily Mortimer), and Tom's fiancé Nola (a very attractive Scarlett Johansson). Nola becomes an extremely dangerous aphrodisiac to Chris. From the moment they meet, Chris will never feel the same again. When the relationship between Tom and Nola ends, Nola disappears out of Chris' life for a while. During this time he builds on a future with Chloë, but Nola is never really out of his thoughts. She becomes an obsessive addiction, that affects his entire life. The development he makes during the film is really scary. From a steady and down-to-earth guy he becomes an obsessive and deceptive person, unable to choose between a good wealthy but boring life with Chloë, and an unstable but passionate relationship with Nola.
Allen takes time to play out all the events taking place in this film. Every emotion without dialogue comes across perfectly, making you really feel Chris' impossible situation. Another important thing you genuinely feel is the erotic tension between Chris and Nola in their scenes together. There is no original score, making you focus on the characters even more.
There is not a single bad performance in this film. Every character feels real, natural and deep, as if everything is actually taking place as you're watching it. For instance Brian Cox plays a very gentle character, as you've never seen him before. Everyone on screen makes it very easy for you to get into this very human story about passion and obsession, and you are kept in, for the full two hours. Adding in the realism is the London setting, that is simply there, without any unusual production design. A splendid achievement.
If you like down-toned and real character drama with great performances, Match Point is your ticket.