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Match Point
Woody Allen's take on thrillers
The other day, I had the honor of seeing another classic: Woody Allen's Match Point. Oh, how I wish I had seen this movie when it came out in 2005. I would have instantly listed it as one of my top ten of the year. Be as it may, it is not the greatest film ever made and it is certainly not perfect at all, but I can excuse its flaws based on its undeniably ingenious script. I wish Woody would make another thriller.
I'm not going to give away any of the twists of the film in this review because just one could cause the whole thing to unravel, or it would at least assist in a dead-on guess. I will say that the movie deals with issues such as greed, lust, and obsession in extremely entertaining and provocative ways. This is not a nice movie at all; nobody should watch it if they're in the mood for a pick-me-up because this movie's purpose is to twist your stomach up into all kind of knots and not let loose until the credits roll. It is totally and completely different from any other Woody Allen movie ever made and that's a good thing. I'm not saying that he should stop making comedies because I absolutely love his movies like Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and even Melinda and Melinda, but it's nice to see something different. It allows me to view Woody in a whole new light. Another example of that would be his film Vicky Cristina Barcelona, in which the lovely Scarlett Johansson also stars. That movie offered something different as well.
But getting back to the movie that this review is about, I would like to point out that the last hour, when all those twists and connivances I mentioned go down, is one of the most brilliant hours in any film ever. There is one scene involving a ring that made me smile because it was just so damn clever. That is the one little not-even-30-seconds part that stood out in my mind. In that one instance, it's as if the rest of the movie dissolved away around that scene and I realized just how intelligent Woody Allen is. It is, suffice it to say, a rare perfect scene. But don't worry; the rest of the movie rocks too.
Scarlett Johansson gives one of the best performances I have ever seen out of her in any movie. She plays Nola Rice, the sex object of the main character, Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers). She starts out as a sexy woman that any man would desire but as the movie progresses we find out how unconfident she is in herself and how troubled she really is. Johansson has starred in two other Allen movies, the cruddy Scoop and the aforementioned Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She is a smart girl. No matter what role she's in, she brings a major likeableness to the screen and that's usually due to the fact that she's giving it her all. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for playing Nola (she should have been nominated for an Oscar). Rhys Meyers brings a certain kind of awfulness to his character Chris that I believe no other actor could have accomplished. Maybe it's the way that, behind his gorgeous eyes, I always knew something sinister was going on. Maybe it's the way that every time he said something, I wanted to kick his ass. Or maybe it's the moral quandary he's going through which doesn't seem like much of a quandary at all but more of a huge dose of selfishness on his part. Whichever it was, I know that he is good, very good. And the ever-charming Emily Mortimer is highly compelling as Chris's wife, Chloe.
I would advise any movie lover to see Match Point. They will not be disappointed. Shaken and stirred like one of James Bond's martinis, yes. Chewed up and spit out, definitely. I know that there are many people out there who will not like this movie, just as is the case with any movie, but I know that I do. Their complaint will more than likely be that it's too depressing or that the ending kind of comes out of nowhere (which I have heard but I didn't feel that way). But look back at those two statements: when it comes down to it, maybe that was the point (pardon the pun).
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