0
0
This is a clever film, clever in such a way as to not reveal its full cleverness right until the very end. Written by Woody Allen, but bereft of humour, it nonetheless revolves around one of his favourite themes—infidelity and its consequences.
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) begins the film as a disillusioned tennis pro who turns his back on the international circuit and starts tutoring at an upper-class London tennis club. Here he’s befriended by Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), son of an über-rich stockbroker, who introduces Chris to two very different women. The first is Tom’s sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), a bright but naïve girl who quickly falls for Chris. The other is Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), Chloe’s complete opposite—a sultry, seductive, femme fatale. Though he’s no gold digger, Chris marries Chloe and accepts a very well-paying job in her father’s business empire. But all the time he’s lusting after Nola. He wants it all—Emily’s connection to money and power, and Nola’s passionate bedroom athletics. For a while he manages to juggle the two, but inevitably his cheating ways catch up with him.
To start with, I found it hard to comprehend a humourless Woody Allen film. But Match Point moves along at a brisk pace and draws from such a well-written script that I soon found the lack of laughs nothing to be concerned about. All the main players turn in first-rate performances, especially Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (he’s definitely a name to watch out for). There’s also a very clever reference to Dostoevstky’s Crime and Punishment, a book that no doubt influenced the film’s last few scenes.
Though I’m very much a fan of Allen’s early funny films (Bananas, The Sleeper) and his more mature comedies (Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanours), after watching Match Point I’m left wondering why he hasn’t made more thrillers. In its own way, this film is just as appealing as Annie Hall or The Purple Rose of Cairo.
And have I mentioned that it’s also very clever?
