Success sure is about hard work and planning, but certainly not without a bit of luck on your side

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2020)

Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is an ex-tennis professional who could have been right on top, but has no regret about where he is. He is charming, handsome and can impress who he wants to, and more importantly, has a plan to climb the ladder. Chris joins a London club as a tennis coach and soon makes friends with Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), the son of a wealthy businessman Alec Hewett (Brian Cox) who he coaches. It takes him no time to enter the Hewett inner circle through the heart of Chloe (Emily Mortimer), Tom's sister, who falls for his charms easily. He also wins the confidence of Alec, who gets him a plum job in his empire and life looks set. Before he ties the knot with Chloe, he meets Tom's girlfriend Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling American actress, and sparks fly between them. Now Chris wants to have the cake and eat it too.
Nola and Tom have to call it off due to family disapproval and this is Chris' opportunity to continue his clandestine affair with her, and whilst the passion in his marriage with Chloe is on the wane, his lust for Nola grows out of bound. Though Nola initially resists, she gives in to Chris when he promises to break away from Chloe. The problem with that is that Chris will have to sacrifice his life of plenty, comfort and success, a price that he isn't ready to pay yet. To compound the situation further, Nola announces that she is pregnant and becomes insistent about Chris getting out of his marriage. It's a problem Chris has to address - he sets out on a risky plan to bring his life back on the rail, and unless luck plays up against him, he shall remain the invincible smooth operator. Will he survive the crisis and come clean?
Woody Allen's Match Point is a brilliant psychological thriller, with Chris' fortunes swinging this way and that due to his living life on the edge constantly. The film walks a tightrope throughout, with a sword hanging over the veil of the many secrets that Chris harbours, taking Match Point to an almost nail biting finale, quite analogous to the excitement associated with the title in a tennis match. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is suave, smooth, composed and cool, and in contrast, Scarlett Johansson is raw and volatile. Emily Mortimer supports well. The opera like music is a winner for the film, and cinematography by Remi Adafarasin is definitely worth an applause.