Luck and Fate at an Unlikely Crossroads in an Elegant, Crafty Movie by Woody Allen

Rating: 8/10 (30 January 2006)

While it's true that Woody Allen has had an erratic record as a filmmaker of late, there are definite pleasures to be had from his recent work such as 1999's "Sweet and Lowdown", 2000's "Small Time Crooks" and 2005's "Melinda and Melinda". However, what makes 2005's "Match Point" different from the usual Allen product is that it is an incessantly addictive film ripe with melodrama and suspense with little of Allen's angst-driven comedy. There are elements that will remind long-time Allen aficionados of 1989's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" and 1993's "Manhattan Murder Mystery", but at the same time, the film seems also inspired by Anthony Minghella's 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley", George Stevens's 1951 "A Place in the Sun" based on Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy", and Adrian Lyne's 1987 "Fatal Attraction".
Set in contemporary London, a first for Allen, the intricate plot focuses on a failed pro tennis player, Chris Wilton, who lands a rather cushy job as a coach at a fancy private club. Through sheer luck - a consistent theme throughout for Chris - he befriends wealthy Tom Hewett and by way of an evening in the family's opera box, begins dating his guileless sister Chloe. Insinuating himself into the family with ease, including securing a nice job at one of the companies owned by Tom and Chloe's father, Chris becomes obsessed with Nola Rice, Tom's seductive American fiancée, a failing actress of whom Tom and Chloe's mother vehemently disapproves. How they all intertwine is what makes up most of the action, and the story works like an ever-tightening noose around Chris's actions. Even though it plays out like a smart thriller, Allen brings a decidedly fatalistic tone that introduces greater issues of fate, retribution and justice. The themes don't weigh the film down unnecessarily, and in fact, the film's last half-hour brings all the higher-level issues together in a way that makes the conclusion resonate with unpredictable force.
As Chris, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers brings an effectively opaque manner to his character that makes him neither sympathetic nor villainous but rather leaves him precariously off-balance to the viewer. It's a smartly rendered performance that teeters toward the predictable only toward the very end. Although her first scene at the ping-pong table seems a bit excessive in introducing her character, Scarlett Johansson plays Nola with sensual fervor and palpable emotionalism, especially as her character spirals into darker psychological territory. Their scenes together are surprisingly carnal for an Allen film. Since they carry out the greater themes of moral vacuity, the remaining actors seem to be there simply to support the other end of the spectrum though not in predictable ways. For example, Emily Mortimer manages to play the unsuspecting Chloe not as a victim but as someone unwilling to confront her own unhappiness given her aggressive and rather selfish desire to become pregnant.
As embodied expertly by Brian Cox as the overly generous father, Penelope Wilton as the overbearing mother and Matthew Goode as carefree Tom, the rest of the Hewett family are equally clueless about what is going on around them. However, that's exactly Allen's point in his parable-like script as he makes shrewd observations about the power of luck and our profound inability to control our destinies in making one's way toward a desired life. In a manner that recalls Gordon Willis's work in Allen's "Interiors", Remi Adefarasin lends an immaculately cool sheen to the cinematography, and the upscale world among the London social elite is captured almost too adroitly with Jim Clay's manicured production design and Caroline Smith's tasteful set decorations. In place of his usual jazz-infused soundtrack, Allen uses old opera recordings of Caruso singing Bizet, Donizetti, Rossini and especially Verdi as a smartly evocative background. This is strong work from film auteur Allen well worth viewing.