Good film could have been great!

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2006)

Match Point is a wonderful story that is expertly filmed and told but is marred somewhat by some corny dialogue and a central passionate affair that fails to truly convince.
I am a huge fan of Scarlett Johansson ever since her wonderful understated performance in Lost in Translation.She gave similar very good performances in Love song for Bobby Long and In Good Company.However,this role called for a much larger emotional range(Obsession,lust,anger etc..) and I feel she comes up short. Similarly, Jonathan Rhys Meyers fails to convey the emotional nuances of his character.As such the fire of their affair is not convincing. Indeed, I had the feeling they didn't really get along.Adding to this were some awfully mundane interchanges(the table tennis scene made me cringe).
Overall though, this is a wonderful story and a masterful plot with great twists and turns.The support cast is excellent and the locations and photography are stunning.In the end however, I was left feeling that with a more inspired casting of the leads(say Naomi Watts and Jude Law)who could exhibit more emotional range, as well as some minor writing changes,could have turned a good film into a a great psychodrama/thriller of Double Indemnity proportions.