"Match Point" - A Triumphant Return for Woody Allen

Rating: 9/10 (18 November 2005)

This past Wednesday I was able to catch a pre-screening of "Match Point" in NYC. I must say that I found the film to be absolutely captivating, taking a plot that easily could have been cliché and instead shaping it into a memorable and poignant piece worthy of intense afterthought and conversation. Think "Closer" mixed with one part "Unfaithful" and one part pure Woody idiosyncratic style. Mr. Allen has certainly made a bold comeback from the downward slide he's taken in the past few years("Melinda & Melinda", anyone?) For me, "Match Point" was most striking in the two main oppositions that it called attention to: love vs. lust, and more importantly, luck vs. hard work. As you probably have already read, Jonathan Rys Meyers is cast as a phenomenal tennis player from Ireland who comes from poverty but aspires toward climbing the democratic and capitalistic ladder that we're all so familiar with in the Western world. While working as an instructor at a swank London country club, Rys Meyers is fortunate enough to become involved with an upper class family, dating and eventually marrying their daughter (Emily Mortimer) and of course being set up with a steadily ascending position in their father's corporate office. The conflict arises when he becomes tempted by and involved with Scarlett Johansson's character, who is the American girlfriend of his brother-in-law (Matthew Goode).
A life of Aston Martins, corner offices with views, and bottles of Dom Perignon is, needless to say, a secure and comfortable one for Rys Meyers. However, his attraction to Johansson is so potent that he ultimately must make the choice between a modest lifestyle with the sexy, enigmatic Johansson - who plays a struggling actress - or a safe and privileged one with the more demure Mortimer.
To me, one of the more interesting scenes in the film comes when Mortimer and Rys Meyers are discussing the idea of good fortune. What's ironic here is that Mortimer, a trust fund baby, sides with the idea that luck has little value relative to hard work, while Rys Meyers, who comes from nothing, opposes her argument by stating that fate is what carries one to high places. Personally I felt that this sequence placed a negative marking on Mortimer for the remainder of the film, not because of her performance (I thought her's was one of the film's more brilliant appearances), but because from this point on we cannot help but think of her as overly naive and therefore unfit for Rys Meyers' darker, more conflicted demeanor.
Is it better to be lucky or good? Moreover, is Rys Meyers in love with Johansson, or is he simply addicted to her tempestuous sexuality? It's difficult for me to answer either of these questions. I would love to see the film again in order to be able to reevaluate what Allen has put out there for us. I would love to hear others thoughts on this and on the film in general...go see "Match Point" as soon as you possibly can - it's been a long time since a fictional film has left me thinking as much as this one did, and I'm confident that most will agree.