The Bounce of a Ball...

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2006)

There comes a point in a tennis match where the ball hits the top of the net. It bounces straight up in the air and, with a bit of luck, it falls your way. Woody Allen's "Match Point" explores that moment of luck and all the consequences of it. Is it all just a series of random events? Are some of us just luckier than others? Sometimes, the bounce we want is not the bounce we need.
Woody Allen is an awkward barometer of taste. You either like his writing or you don't. But even his most loyal fans have been restless with his latest offerings, chomping at the bit for him to try something other than a Manhattan relationship comedy with a neurotic lead male and a fine young thing as his muse.
"Match Point" is exactly what his fans wanted... A break from the routine as he delves into film-noir, class distinction and romantic thriller genres, all the while delivering the same brilliant, pitch-perfect dialog that has come to define his work over the past thirty years.
This film evokes that nervous laughter you feel when the tension is almost unbearable. It is paced so relentlessly toward doom that you just want to scream something at the screen to help the characters avoid their inevitable fate. At one point, when the actions of the lead character are at a boiling point, I was practically begging that character to reconsider.
The screenplay is essentially a six character play. Chris (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is an ex-tennis pro who meets a wealthy family while teaching at an upper-crust London country club. He soon drifts into a pleasant relationship with the daughter Chloe (Emily Mortimer). There is nothing tremendously passionate about the two of them... It all just seems to fit.
Chloe's brother Tom (Matthew Goode) is engaged to Nola (Scarlett Johansson), a voluptuous and sexy American who is extremely aware of the effect she has on the men around her. Her impact is immediately felt by Chris, and the sparks fly as they secretly rendezvous behind their wealthy loved one's backs.
The final two characters are the stinking rich parents (Brian Cox & Penelope Wilton) of Chloe and Tom, who are virtually trying to buy the future happiness of their children.
I won't detail the ingenious plot in much detail, but needless to say, relationships boil and cool, people leave and come back, suspicions are ignited and extinguished. And we simply watch as Chris tries to juggle it all with the sole aim of landing on his feet safely.
It is a clever little story that will have your jaw dropped and your head scratched on more than one occasion. And the film does not compromise. It leaves us in the way a French thriller would... With more questions than we started. It is definitely a film that you will have fun discussing.
Woody delivers his best film in years. He does it in a genre you won't expect. And he does it with a cast that is so acutely precise with every word, every undertone of innuendo, every movement and glance. This is easily one of the best ensembles of the year.
"Match Point" is not a film where you will find likable characters... Hardly anyone in the film comes out clean on the other side. More than anything, this film will have you questioning the bounce of a ball as the key to it all. Is life just a series of fortunate or unfortunate breaks? I suppose it depends on your point of view.