“Match Point” (DreamWorks)
Woody Allen’s wooden variation on “An American Tragedy” set in London
Woody Allen’s new film “Match Point” is a change of pace for him. The biggest difference is that the story is a romantic melodrama. The jokes in the film are rare and subdued and spring from the plot, not from any need to have a laugh. Allen does not make an appearance in the film and for most that will be a welcomed fact.
“Match Point” takes place in London where Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) has obtained employment as a tennis pro at a posh club. One of the people he instructs is Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode). Tom is wealthy and one day invites Chris to the family estate.
During this weekend in the country Chris meets Tom’s parents (Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton) as well as his sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Chloe takes and instant liking to Chris, but Chris is mesmerized by Tom’s fiance Nola (Scarlett Johansson). She is an American actress living in London.
Tom’s family offers Chris a position in the family business, mostly as an incentive to make Chloe more attractive to him. Chris knows a good set up when he sees it but he can’t get Nola out of his mind. Eventually his fascination with Nola will cause major trouble in his life.
Most of the script plays out like an English version of Theodore Dreiser’s “An American Tragedy.” But there are some twists at the end that make it a bit different. One of the worst flaws of the film is that nothing in the first half of the movie sets up the events that transpire in the second half.
Rhys-Meyers has had quite a year. He played the lead in the “Elvis” mini-series on American television, and now he has the lead in a Woody Allen film. The downside of that is he is not outstanding in his role as Chris. He is just ordinary.
The same can be said of Mortimer but she is supposed to be excruciatingly ordinary in the movie. So she plays her role to perfection. Johansson is supposed to be the femme fatale but that role is beyond her at this point in her career.
The movie is rated R for profanity, violence and sexual situations.
Woody Allen is an acquired taste even when he is at his best. He is not at his best with “Match Point.” This almost Hitchcockian film is more than he can control. It is deadly dull in parts and dramatically silly in others. And finally it is hard to get the point of “Match Point.”
I scored “Match Point” an outside the line 4 out of 10.
