Match Point
Written and directed by Woody Allen
DreamWorks
2005
Rating:


If not truly worthy of comparison to "Crimes and Misdemeanors," Woody Allen's other foray into crime-drama territory, "Match Point" is at least Allen's first watchable film since 1999's "Sweet and Lowdown."

Forsaking romantic comedy for a pseudo-romance laced with strychnine, Allen finds cynicism to his liking in the character of Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers). Chris, a man who would "rather be lucky than right," lucks into joining the wealthy Hewett family while working as a tennis pro in London. Chris becomes friends with student Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who in turn introduces Chris to his lovely sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Chris finds Chloe to be sweet and "bright," especially when he considers the life of privilege she can give him. Chris' interest wanes after meeting Tom's fiancιe Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a femme fatale with sensuality to burn.

Allen and his cinematographer Remi Adefarasin do amazing work in the film's first half to create a sense of mood and passion. Chris is subtly cast as an outsider, always slightly underdressed for each occasion. His feminine beauty makes him stand out from the drab Brits around him. When Chris and Nola share the frame together, the screen is filled with the intensity of sexual longing, and the lighting scheme seems to slightly glow around them.

Once Chris and Nola consummate their passion, that light goes out. There are a few surprising turns in "Match Point," but it's a shame that Allen gives into the clichι that films about infidelity must diverge into thriller territory. Nola's late-film pleas to Chris are less hysteria-prone than the ones in "Fatal Attraction," but even so, what has been characterized by some critics as whining is really just Nola asking to be allowed to have the family she was promised. Similarly, Chris' reaction against her, which has been labeled misogyny, is really an act of, if not self-preservation, than a more conservative philosophy of family preservation.

Allen's "A Place in the Sun"-mimicking thriller instincts remain tolerable because of the surprising amount of tension he's able to wrench through a familiar scenario. Thrills are replaced by unintentional laughs once the two most affable homicide detectives in London show up and Banquo's ghost arrives to hector the guilty. This is no "Crimes and Misdemeanors," but it's not a crime on par with most of Allen's other work of the past six years, either. "Match Point" is, instead, merely a misdemeanor.

Posted Thursday, January 12, 2006

Link to this review:
http://filmzeus.pressbin.com/film/match.point