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Went into this today not knowing what was coming. It got an "A" in the Dallas paper, but as custom, I read only the first and last paragraphs. That was good on my part as when I got home, I read the whole review. Paragraphs 2-9 told the whole story. Almost. I won't here. Just some teasers,First if there is such a thing as a Genteel love story with very dark undercurrents, this is it. Not set in New York, no Woody Allen in it, no Woody-ish neebish character. In fact, most of the characters are the antithesis of the typical Allen character.
This is a story set amongst the British upper class in modern day London. Playing the male lead is Jonathan Rhy-Meyers, as the ever so courteous and unassuming,humble commoner (tennis pro at a posh club) who makes all the right moves to earn his place in polite, monied society. Providing the dramatic adge in this movie is Scarlett Johanssen. Again, she is a temptress, but not the naive innocent of Lost In Translation. Here she is the Kathleen Turner type of Body Heat, seductress wise at least, duly aware of her powers over men. Unlike Turner, she has a vulnerable side. I can't say enough about her performance. She burns up the screen (hey what else is new) in dang near all of her scenes. We might get to see Scarlett-boobies. Or not.
Complications ensue in both of their lives as they find romance amongst the London elite. Detours, some quite unexpected, abound in the latter half. No caricautures of the monied elite either. This is a movie with real characters who have concerns that problably all of the viewers can relate to at least in part. As it moves along, the sense of darknesss becomes stronger and conflicts build resulting in a shattering conclusion at the end.
Nope, theres no giant apes, no vengeful elimination of wrongdoers, no exciting car chases, no bombs or machinegun fire, just strong performances and a complex, all too believable and often surprising, story line. Actually, for me, this was a "makeup" film for dragging Mrs. Nasty to King Kong and Munich. I'm not telling her it was probably my favorite of the three (not that I didn't really enjoy the other two), but I'm telling youse guys. ***. Check it out.
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I'm the biggest Woody fan and Matchpoint was everything he's need to do for long time. Comedicly, he's gotten a bit stale by repeating the same dialogue over many movies. This was a real return to form and a great drama and very human. I've liked his previous ones but this puts him back on top. Brilliant even though it retreads the moral of Crimes and Misdemeanors ( also a great film).Welcome back Woody!
Where to start with the latest Woody Allen crap fest? After a string of simply horrible films, Allen has been reduced to recycling himself -- "Crimes and Misdemeanors" -- in an attempt to salvage what's left of his career. But when reworking this previous masterpiece, Allen failed to actually realize what made it so brilliant. The most obvious problem is that in "Match Point," the murder comes at the very end, leaving the audience to sit through 100 minutes of exposition. As a result of the murder happening in the middle of "Crimes," Judah goes through a wide range of emotions, trying to justify the murder, dealing with his guilt, and reassessing his agnostic views. You get none of that in "Match Point," just the contrived dream sequence in the kitchen, where suddenly everyone is a philosopher, which didn't even fit into the film's aesthetic (but it worked quite well in "Crimes's" Bergmanesque atmosphere). Next, the whole affair in "Match Point" was too Fatal Attractionesque, i.e. a cautionary tale about lust. The woman you have an affair with could be a wacko; you need to be especially careful about keeping it in your pants when if it wasn't for your rich father-in-law, you'd still be a tennis pro. "Crimes" is not cautionary, but more tragic. There were warning signs that Dolores would be clingy, specifically her depression, but Judah is unable to see this since he's so impressed with himself that a younger woman is interested in him. Also significant is that Judah acts as a surrogate father to Dolores. She is a much more complicated character than Nola; having Nola become pregnant is a weak crutch for explaining her erratic emotional state. Finally, in "Crimes," the justifiability of killing your lunatic mistress is more ambiguous because Judah is trying to preserve his social standing in his peer group and legacy, while in "Match Point," it's the choice between a meaningful life and being forever doomed as a tennis pro. Allen seems to realize this weakness, so tries to make things more ambiguous by having the neighbor be a victim of "collateral damage" (much like making Nola pregnant).
Spilling the whole story on a brand new movie is just plain rude. Especially because this one carefully avoids revealing any twists in the preview. A post like the one above would have truly spoiled much of my own enjoyment of this movie.
I( feel sorry for those who haven't yet seen the film as you included several major spoilers without any warning.
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Excellent movie. One of the best I have seen in a long time.
The audience was spellbound and you could hear a pin drop all the way through. The plot twists are surprising. The writing, direction and acting are of the first order. One of the best films
this year w\ill see.
and a sophisticated entertainment for adults.There are Woody Allen touches. Like most (all?) of his movies, these people live in the world of art, classical music and literature. This is London, not New York, and the music is Verdi, not Gershwin. But it is still the mythical upper class. And the hero is not just reading a Russian novel at the beginning but also checking the companion to the novel- this is not the behavior of the standard movie character except in a Woody Allen movie. The book is significant, but I didn't know that until later.
However, definitely not a comedy, more a tale of love and lust very reminiscent to me of Hitchcock.
I did not have the slightest idea what happens in this movie, so I was in the pleasant state of being surprised by the twists and turns. The final twist is a neat way to end, I thought it would go the other way.
Casting is almost perfect, dialog is crisp, the London settings provide a scenic backdrop, and the story is well paced. Easily the best movie I've seen this year. (OK, it's the only one so far.) But I thoroughly enjoyed it.
so to speak. What a cool ending.Ain't it cool going into a good movie not knowing squat about the plot? We didn't even know the barest basics, except it was somehow related to tennis.
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I liked it too. And so did my wife.Scarlett does an excellent job in her acting. I was pleasantly surprised at how her character was developed throughout the movie.
I wouldn't compare her to Kathleen Turner, because Turner was sooooo subtly manipulative in Body Heat. Scarlett was more the spurned lover. Nonetheless, I see your point--an interesting comparison.
Two thumbs up for Match Point.
all the best, townsend
scheming black widow personna. Where the two were more or less equals, IMHO, was in the knowledge of their sexuality. One used it for their own means, and the other, well, it DID have an effect......
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"Do I have to spell it out?
C --- H ---- E ---E ---- S --- E
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