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Title:
Match Point
Region:
One
Genre:
Drama Thriller
Stars:
Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers,
Penelope Wilton, Ewen Bremner, and Colin Salmon
Writer:
Woody Allen
Director:
Woody Allen
Feature
length: 124 minutes
Languages:
English and French Language Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging:
Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Two-Channel Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2005/DVD Release: 2006
Theatrical
Distributor: DreamWorks Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: DreamWorks Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Woody
Allen’s “Match Point” is one of his best films in years. A dramatic
departure from his comedies and previous dramas, Allen proves himself again to
both a brilliant a writer and director by crafting a dramatic thriller with a
thesis that runs throughout the film on various levels. The thesis of the film
is even with great skill and drive, more often than we care to believe, success
and failure come down to whichever side luck chooses. This is a disturbing
thought because we often cling to the notion of faith in a higher power that
will somehow see to it that everything is made right when very often people
encounter various fortunes and plights in a large part due to luck. It is easy
to attribute one’s success or failure to karma or fate. We live a dualistic
existence where we have the notion of free will, but often our will is carried
out based on fear and as a result we all buy into some sort of safety net
whether it is religion, philosophy, or a vice that helps us to temporary forget
or deny everything that bothers us. Without going into specifics, I think it is
easy to point out instances throughout history where a person or people seem to
suffer without reason or get away with murder in both the figurative and literal
sense. In the end beyond our support groups if we are “lucky” enough to have
a good one, all we have is hope and faith to carry us through the days of our
lives regardless if you believe or don’t believe in a personal or impersonal
higher order at work.
Beware Of Possible Spoilers
Jonathan
Rhys-Meyers is perfectly cast as the lead male character by the name of Chris,
who trades in his life as professional level tennis player for a shot at a more
privileged life. This is a calculated risk as can be seen in the earliest scenes
where after a sigh he switches from reading Crime And Punishment to The
Cambridge Companion to Dostoevskii in order to give himself a kind of
cultural parachute to engage the upper-class in interesting conversation without
revealing anything too personal about himself too soon and thus further work his
way up the social ladder. The reason why I feel Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is
perfectly cast for this part besides being a good actor is he has already played
a similar role in an all be it different genre when he appeared in the BBC
miniseries adaptation of Mervyn Peake’s “Gormenghast.” His doppelganger as
it were in the story is Nola (Scarlett Johansson), an aspiring actress engaged
to one of Chris’ tennis students, who of course just happens to have a younger
sister (Emily Mortimer)
that is easily seduced by Chris so with a combination of charm, skill, and luck,
Chris soon finds himself marrying into the family while Nola is discarded.
Chris
and Nola are two of a kind. They are both passionate and share a bond of lust
for one another that leads to an intense sexual affair However where luck favors
Chris in his every turn, Nola’s seductive ways are not enough for her to
attain her dreams because it seems luck is never on her side. Things begin to
spin more out of control for Chris when he finds out that Nola is pregnant with
their child. Unwilling to give up the good life he has now grown accustomed to,
Chris tries to convince Nola into having an abortion, but Nola refuses and even
threatens Chris with exposure to his wife of their illicit affair. Chris even
offers to buy Nola off by agreeing to financially support the child, but Nola
wants it all or nothing at all. She ends up with one of those two choices.
Though they share attraction and excitement, now Nola is an obstacle that can
destroy all he has gained and this drives him to desperate actions and terrible
consequences for those whose luck has just about run out regardless if it’s
good or bad.
Chris
and Nola are in my opinion a doomed relationship from the start because
regardless of whether he stays with her or not, I think Nola is just like Chris
and so if fortune finally favored her with a successful acting career, more than
likely she would dump Chris because in order for them to be together, Chris
would have to divorce his wife and more than likely any career he would have had
would be dashed across the board because he would have wrecked the happiness of
his father-in-law’s daughter and so I doubt he could even get a job at a rival
corporation since I’m sure any references and notoriety he might have gained
would have been forever tarnished. So in the end what we as viewers are given is
a cold lesson in Social Darwinism where morality is not a factor. If there is
any consequence, it could be a self made prison, but the final scenes in the
film are in my opinion inconclusive and open to interpretation when it comes to
that possibility. In some ways I also find thematic similarities between
“Match Point” and Woody Allen’s “Crimes And Misdemeanors” too. Brian
Cox, Penelope Wilton, Ewen
Bremner, and Colin Salmon appear in the film is good supporting and or character
cameos too. The film’s conclusion is not so much a twist as it is a final
illustration of the opening thesis on luck, which will no doubt strike a
chilling cord in many viewers. It certainly disturbed me, but I applaud Allen
for not backing down and not resorting to any clichés in the storytelling that
would betray his thesis. I watched the film twice to catch the nuances in the
story I missed the first time and as much as I would like to dismiss it, I have
to admit that Allen’s film has a ring of truth to it that is hard to deny (no
conscious pun intended.)
End
Of Possible Spoilers
As
expected with a Woody Allen film on DVD, there are no extra value features
related to the film at all. In fact there is not even any onscreen or inserted
sheet of production notes that sometimes appear on a DVD release of a Woody
Allen film. However the film’s picture presentation at (1.85:1) enhanced for
16 by 9 televisions is terrific and the standard English two-channel monaural
soundtrack found on just about all of Allen’s films on DVD is clear and
effective. A French Language Monaural Soundtrack as well as English Captions for
the hearing impaired and English, French, and Spanish Language Subtitles is
encoded onto the DVD as options. A trailer for Steven Spielberg’s “Munich”
(2:35) included on the DVD and the interactive menus are beautifully rendered
with full motion scene selections and animated transitions and all are easy to
navigate.
See
it and decide whether or not you think Allen’s presentation makes a valid
point or is a carefully constructed dramatic thriller designed to manipulate the
viewer to elicit a specific response or perhaps it is both or none of the above?
“Match Point” is available on DVD at retailers on and offline now courtesy
of DreamWorks Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2006 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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