Match Point Review [2]
Posted by Dave Schilling on 01.09.2006
Maybe not as big of a departure for Wood Allen as some think
CAST: Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Chris Wilton), Scarlett Johansson (Nola), Matthew Goode (Tom Hewitt), Emily Mortimer (Chloe), Brian Cox (Alec Hewitt), Penelope Wilton (Eleanor Hewitt)
SCR: Woody Allen
DIR: Woody Allen
STUDIO: DreamWorks Pictures
MPAA: R for Some Sexuality
RUNNING TIME: 124 minutes
OFFICIAL SITE: http://www.matchpoint.dreamworks.com
At first glance, Match Point seems like a major departure for the venerable director, Woody Allen. After years of making cliche, ham-fisted comedy pictures like Hollywood Ending or Anything Else, he has finally made a movie that attempts to shake up his tired formula. All of the hullabaloo regarding Allen filming in London, the inspired casting of Scarlett Johansson, and the return to more dour subject matter has made Match Point one of the most talked about films of the year.
It takes awhile to uncoil the truth of the film, but once the final frame seers into your subconscious, it becomes clear that this isn't a "departure" at all. Make no mistake about it, this is Woody Allen's best film in years, possibly his most mature movie since Husbands and Wives, but it is so very much a Woody Allen film at its core. If this story were set in Manhattan and starred Jason Biggs instead of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, hardly anyone would speak up about this being a new page in the career of Woody Allen.
Chris (Rhys-Meyers), an ex-tennis pro, has moved to London to start work as an instructor at a posh, exclusive club. He starts his social climb almost immediately, befriending Tom (Matthew Goode, playing a character Sam Waterston would have played 20 years ago), the son of a wealthy, established Englishman (Brian Cox). Chris falls for Tom's charming, but bland sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Against his better judgment, Chris falls for Tom's sultry fiancé, Nola (Johansson), a struggling actress who is also clearly existing outside her social class. Chris moves closer to Tom and his family, is afforded all the luxuries and high-paying jobs that come with that association, all the while becoming intoxicated by Nola.
Match Point does not immediately make a right turn and become a different, darker film, but is very much two stories. The film begins with Chris's gentrification and slowly becomes about how hard it is for him to keep it all together. The screws tighten on Chris, but it seems that he is the one tightening those screws on himself. This is where it becomes clear that this film is firmly within the realm of standard Woody Allen thematic material.
Rarely does a protagonist in one of these films face problems due to outside forces. Hattie left Emmet in Sweet and Lowdown because he was unable to love her in any normal way. Annie leaves Alvy in Annie Hall because Alvy refuses to grow up and move away from Manhattan. Much like those characters, Chris's tragedies are of his own making.
Hebelieves in fate, luck and divine intervention. That is both his strength and the engineer of his greatest turmoil. The turn his life takes is clearly charmed, and as the picture unfolds, we see that he believes very strongly that he can and should do anything he pleases. He is a man who accomplishes nothing, but gains everything through circumstance. When he is finally forced to make a decision, it is once again fate that intervenes.
What sets Rhys-Meyers's portrayal apart from the scores of other Allen protagonists is his confidence. Chris believes in himself completely. He is unafraid to pursue Nola. There's no hand wringing here, no vacillation. He's far from the nebbish we're all used to. It's a fantastic portrayal, filled with nuance. At times, Chris is both a sympathetic working class kid made good, and at other times the unstable, self-destructive monster.
The character also owes much to Martin Landau's portrayal of Judah in Crimes and Misdemenors. Both characters are willing to go to great lengths to retain the material wealth and stability that has been afforded them during their lives. Nola is the same flighty, emotionally unstable sexpot that has been a staple of Woody Allen movies since he first started making serious pictures (most notably would be Dorrie in Stardust Memories and Holly from Hannah and Her Sisters).
A Woody Allen protagonist must always choose between bourgeois responsibility and affluence and the sketchy, bohemian, overly medicated world that he can't help but be attracted to. In this world Allen has created, there is only one clear choice. True happiness does not exist. Chris is neither good nor bad, simply a man trapped by his own narcissism.
The 411: Critics are really enjoying their ability to say “Woody Allen is back!” but he hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s still telling the same stories. While the man himself has clearly chosen stability and familial responsibility, his protagonists still have to grapple with that old dilemma. With Match Point though, Allen has crafted an intuitive, tense work that explores those themes in a more entertaining fashion than we’ve seen from him in almost a decade. This isn’t so much a return to form as it is a reassertion of the best of the Woody Allen ouveure: a willingness to be nasty, cold and unflinchingly bittersweet.
