Match Point

Genre: psychological drama
Director: Woody Allen
Release: 2005
Studio: BBC Films et al. - DreamWorks
Rating: R
MBiS score: 6.9/10


A Ball Ricocheting Off The Top Of The Net Doesn’t Count As A Winner


Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), an Irish tennis pro, gets a coaching job in a swank London club. While working there, he befriends an upper class Englishman named Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) who offers him a rare opportunity to redirect his life. For Chris to succeed, however, certain skills will be required… and also a modicum of luck. With Emily Mortimer (Chloe Hewett), Scarlett Johansson (Nola Rice), Brian Cox (Alec Hewett), Penelope Wilton (Eleanor Hewett, Alec’s wife), Rupert Penry-Jones (Henry), Ewen Bremner, James Nesbitt and Margaret Tyzack.

Although many have lauded MATCH POINT as a return to form for Woody Allen, I consider it a patent disappointment and a movie far short of CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS in a similar genre. After viewing it for forty minutes, I almost turned off the telly but decided against it, hoping for a surprise twist, a revelation of some kind that would save the day. I now regret having done so but, at least, I have earned a chance to vent my ill will… and I do intend to make the best of it.

For one thing, none of the characters in MATCH POINT appealed to me, not because they were unsympathetic – as stories about dislikeable people often make compelling films – but because they were b-o-r-i-n-g. After his recent retirement from the pro game, Chris may have had reason to be confused – in all matters except sex, that is – but his tentativeness is no great spectacle even though we are told more than once that this former racquets man reads Dostoevsky. The Hewetts were collectively stricken with terminal blandness. Nola’s character, although fleshed out in a conspicuous way, didn’t interest me much beyond her genuine knack for provocation. The acting was no more impressive, aside from Jonathan Rhys-Meyers’ good performance, but it must be said that the cast had little valid material to chew on.

Secondly, although MATCH POINT was conceived as a straight dramatic film with only one joke per se, several bloopers made me squirm with laughter at the worst possible times, an inexplicable occurrence in Woody Allen films. A few nice repartees are sunk by annoying, cringeworthy lines; at least twice, a character utters a gratuitous comment and then repeats it as if aiming for self-justification… very odd indeed. The film’s central metaphor and its various references to the sport of tennis were also shaky. As for the story-line itself, I found it unoriginal, predictable and forced. Here are a few of its sore spots. Warning – spoilers ahead! How can Nola, an American woman of presumably modest means, travel to the UK to study acting and look for a job – as if there weren’t any in the States – and then commute matter-of-factly between London and the US? When Chris entertains an adulterous relationship with her after his marriage to Chloe, how could the Hewetts (especially Eleanor, who never liked Nola) not suspect him when he gets caught in the rain with the aspiring actress, deserts the clan at the opera house to talk to her and gives pat answers to explain unusual events? As for the film’s climactic event in a London apartment building, how could Chris ever use a noisy hunting rifle to commit two “drug-related” homicides in broad daylight when a knife would have been a more logical choice? And how about that opera excerpt accompanying the carnage… wasn’t it outlandish? Say it ain’t so, Woody! Say it ain’t so!

If there’s one thing I have learned about tennis, it’s that once you know the score, you usually don’t need to see the whole mess. Accordingly, you don’t need to see MATCH POINT, a standard and rather lifeless film that just goes on and on until the closing credits. Why don’t you try the aforementioned CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, one of Woody’s great films, or Claude Chabrol’s LES NOCES ROUGES instead? You’ll thank me for it.


MBiS

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