"Match Point" is Hitchcock-cum-Dostoyevsky and fantastic new territory for Woody Allen.

Rating: 9/10 (28 January 2006)

"Crime and Punishment" is familiar stomping ground for Woody Allen, but every other element to "Match Point" is foreign. The setting, London, is literally foreign and the melodrama built into a domestic thriller is equally new for Allen. The subject matter of infidelity, highly reminiscent on "Crimes and Misdemeanors," is typical Allen, however, and his new spin on it incredibly satisfying.
The film has been criticized for its setting and Allen's poor representation of Londoners. While the depiction of the locals and the locale is indeed clichéd, Allen has no interest in portraying realism in this film. Hitchcock is notorious for saying, "Reality is something that none of us can stand, at any time," and Allen runs with this idea from Chris Wilton's (Jonathan Rhys Myers) ridiculous Lacoste and Ralph Lauren attire to his wife's (Emily Mortimer) painfully yuppie fanaticism with hideous art. There are no double-decker buses, but everyone rides in black cabs. The viewer should not despair at the dubious placement of the Houses of Parliament across from Wilton's flat; it is all part of Allen's way of playing with our expectations and sense of justice.
The entire Hewett family is just a piece of the scenery. They are as flat as can be (although they are entertaining to watch). They serve to make us identify with and like the enormously unlikable Chris Wilton. The only other developed character is Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), whom, significantly, we first see playing table tennis against former tennis pro Wilton. Her white dress hardly indicates innocence as it recalls Lana Turner's dress in "The Postman Always Rings Twice." She is the American blonde femme fatale, but clearly outclassed at the ping-pong table. What are we to expect? Allen is surprisingly deft with his command of a thriller. He avoids cheap ploys standard to infidelity flicks. The suspense does not come from Chloe's (Wilton's wife) growing suspicion. In fact, Allen's script hardly contains any suspicion on the part of the Hewetts. Standard to suspense movies is the waxing and waning of tension through situations where the lovers could get caught. For instance, when Chris and Nola kiss outside of the box at the opera, the viewer expects someone to come out or expects them to have to explain their absence in some way. Instead, the film cuts before any resolution is offered, leaving the tension high. Similarly, after Nola and Chris allow their passions to best them in rain on the countryside, the viewer wonders how they will explain their sopping and muddy clothes to the Hewetts. We can only assume that Hewetts are as fantastically naïve as the film skips any possible confrontation and cuts to another day and scene entirely. The viewer is allowed no reprieve from the tension as Chris continues to commit daring acts of stupidity and infidelity. Due to the lack of other developed characters, we must root for him and like him despite his slimy nature.
The only hope the viewer has for Chris is Allen's initial metaphor of luck. As adept at cheating as Chris may be, he admits that there are moments where luck could take him either way, to salvation or damnation. Playing over his sexual romps is incessant opera music, following his view of life as a great tragedy with no god, only pure chance. The opera music serves as another tool for making the entire story unreal enough into which we may immerse ourselves. In a film as godless and lacking in morals as "Match Point," only the surreal would allow us to selfishly hope for Chris's well-being simply so that our nerves can take a break from his skulking.
It is unfortunate that to praise the best part of the film is to spoil the third act. To do the most justice (a significantly poor word to use for this film), one can only say that the ending is sadistically satisfying. To have an ending as deliciously godless, amoral, and simultaneously satisfying as the culmination of "Match Point"can only be attributed to Woody Allen's skill at moving into new territory with one of best movies of the year.