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Match Point
dir. Woody Allen; starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
The highly-anticipated Match Point, Woody Allen’s latest film, has long excited hopes of seeing Allen back with a bang. And it certainly satisfies. The protagonist Chris is a young tennis coach who begins a steady climb up the social ladder after he meets, and then marries, filthy rich Chloe. He lands a lucrative job with daddy’s company but things start to go awry when he embarks on an affair with Nola, the fiancée of his brother-in-law Tom.
Match Point is at its most effective when dealing with its central theme of fate and luck. It truly messes with your head, ending with a horrifying twist played out to a powerful surge of opera. There is some great acting from rising stars Goode and Mortimer, whilst Johansson is characteristically sultry as Nola. But it must be said that the characters curiously lack any real depth, particularly Rhys-Meyers’ Chris.
Hence the dialogue can be dreadfully stilted at times; a little empty and stereotyped. Yet it is a film which I have thought much about over my tea and scones, and not just because I am reviewing it that, surely, is no bad sign.
12th Jan 2005