Match Point (2005)
Chris, a former tennis player, looks for work as an instructor. He meets Tom Hewett, a wealthy young man whose sister Chloe falls in love with Chris. But Chris has his eye on Tom's fiancee Nola.
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Say what you want about Woody Allen, the guy makes some good films. He makes some bad films too. Heck, he's made a movie every year for the last four decades, there's bound to be one or two stinkers in there. But Match Point, for my money, is his best yet.It's just so different. It is his most different work from anything else he has done and, unlike his other films, it is not immediately identifiable as A Woody Allen film, if not for his name in the credits. That's a good thing by the way. Different is good.But moreover, it's different from anything I've ever seen before or since. Not so different that it feels TOO different. It's still very fun, unpredictable, and keeps you on the edge of your seat right up until the end, and then sends you home with a an ear-to-ear grin on your face. See it if you haven't yet. Tell your friends to see it. It's very good.
When I started watching this, I actually thought I might have seen it before, but as the story progressed, I realized I definitely had not! I usually don't like Woody Allen films, so I guess this was not an exception, but at least it wasn't supposed to be funny (I don't laugh at his comedy either). The characters/acting are a bit unrealistic, unbelievable, and difficult to relate to.
I had to watch this movie with my girlfriend and she finally conceded that this movie is "not one of her favorites". In my opinion: The best part of the movie was the long expected end. Unfortunately, 2 hours of absurdity and boredom in my life, I will never get back. Moreover, it was very exhausting keeping my eyes opened by following the story of senselessness. Maybe the movie is addressed to opera friends since the music is quite good from time to time. Sorry to all fans, but I don't get it! I am still wondering about the reason for such melodramatic story lines! I hope to save someones evening by preventing him from watching this movie, because all other ratings are misdirecting, I think.
ALLEN ENTERS NEW TERRITORY WITH "MATCH POINT"Viewed at 2005 San Sebastian Film Festival featuring centenary homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Though there were no films by Hitchcock on view, several films are in a way a homage to the master. "Match Point", the latest from Woody Allen is a vast departure from his usual form and is, in effect, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller filmed in London no less, with an entirely English cast except for a smashingly sexy Scarlett Johansson in a most uncharacteristic vamp role, as the sole American presence – (and what a presence she is!). At a turning point in his life, an unscrupulous social climbing former tennis pro falls for a scrumptuous femme-fatal type (Scarlett Jo) who happens to be dating his new best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Her blatant irresistibility forces him to tread a skittery fine line between acceptance or expulsion from the high society he has edged his way into -- like a tennis ball teetering on top of the net at a decisive win-or-lose "match point". Also the metaphor for which way the evidence will fall when he is a suspect in Scarlett's shocking but necessary murder. Young Scarlett really sets the celluloid aflame in this stylish shot out of Mr. Konigsberg's Twilight Zone, with sensitive support from Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the freaked-out lover-killer who in the end will go unpunished. Woody has strayed from comedy before with mixed results but this no-nonsense edge of the seat entry into typical Hitchcockian territory demonstrates his versatility as nothing before. The tennis background is perfectly employed to a breath-taking conclusion where a tennis ball teeters momentarily on the top of the net and can fall either way. Johansson, moreover, pulls out all the stops and shows she can act as well as just look gorgeous — and sexier than ever as a scheming heartless femme fatale. Hats off to both Woody and Scarlett for a perfectly realized neo Film Noir. Alfred would have loved it!An extra dessert for Opera fans; Since both leading men are opera lovers the musical score is made up entirely of opera excerpts with remastered Caruso recordings and oodles of Verdi arias commenting subtly on the proceedings of this amoral operatic film noir masterpiece.