Match Point
Overview
For the first time in his long career, writer-director Woody Allen takes his cast and crew to London, and the European location breathes new life into the normally Manhattan-centric auteur. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Chris Wilton, a former pro on the world tennis circuit who now has his eyes set on a very different kind of prize. After meeting Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) at an exclusive club, he becomes friendly with Tom's extremely wealthy family, including his powerful businessman father, Alec (Brian Cox) and his attractive sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who is desperate to get married and have children. The only problem is that Chris has fallen hard and fast for Tom's fiancée, the steaming-hot Nola (Scarlett Johansson), an unsuccessful American actress from Colorado who just might share Chris's lustful feelings--a romantic entanglement that could get in the way of his master plan. As he does with his New York-set films, Allen includes many London landmarks, including the Tate Modern, the Royal Opera House, the Queen's Club, St. James Park, the Millennium Bridge, the Palace Theatre, and the so-called Gherkin building, with its marvelous views of the city. He gets splendid performances from his actors, especially Rhys Meyers, who plays Chris with an intense glower, and Johansson, who is brilliant as the sexy, confident femme fatale. Allen is also inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, with several references and homages to the work of the great British director. The soundtrack features songs from LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, OTELLO, MACBETH, SALVATOR ROSA, IL TROVATORE, and other operas, primarily sung by Enrico Caruso.
Awards:
Main Cast & Crew:
Woody Allen - Director
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers
Brian Cox
Scarlett Johansson
Various SING 2 Artists
Emily Mortimer
Matthew Goode
Brian Cox III
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Alan Oke
Gilly Gilchrist
Details
- Format: DVD (Dolby, Widescreen)
- Run Time: 124
- Color Format: Color
- UPC: 678149486629
- Genre: MYSTERY / SUSPENSE / THRILLER
- Rating: R (MPAA) (Some Sexuality)
- Release Date: April 2006
Movie Reviews
Notes:
Theatrical Release: December 28, 2005
Reviews:
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[Allen] writes and directs with a bristling newfound energy....It's been a long time since a Woody Allen film sparked juicy debate. Savor it." - 12/15/2005 Rolling Stone, p.162
"[A]n often riveting drama set in London amid the lives of the rich and cultured -- highlighted by an operatic score. And it's proof that Allen, who many have dismissed with his last few forgettable films, is still a filmmaking force." - 12/28/2005 USA Today, p.1D
"It pretty much keeps its pulse steady, its blood cold and its nerves tamped down -- which, combined with cinematographer Remi Adefarasin's architectural Hitchcockian flourishes, lends a queasy, cool air to the proceedings." - 12/28/2005 Los Angeles Times, p.E1
"[Johansson] is the film's most compelling, vivid presence. Like Samantha Morton in SWEET AND LOWDOWN, she makes all of her scenes her own." - 01/01/2006 Sight and Sound, p.63-64
Included in Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Films Of The Year -- "MATCH POINT is a fiendishly clever and sophisticated entertainment driven by lust, murder, and the swinging hinge of fate." - 12/30/2005 Entertainment Weekly, p.117
"Woody Allen's best in years....Ice cold and pitch black..." - 01/06/2006 New York Times, p.E26
"MATCH POINT, a meditation on crime and luck, has the design -- the formal elegance -- of a thriller, yet it has been made with a sublime eye for why people do what they do that marks it as Allen's finest movie since MANHATTAN." -- Grade: A - 01/20/2006 Entertainment Weekly, p.48
"It's heart-poundingly tense, genuinely erotic and philosophically brutal in its closing pronouncement..." - 02/01/2006 Uncut, p.96
"[A]n unexpectedly gripping adultery thriller…that boasts last year's most electric sparks between costars..." - 03/01/2006 Movieline's Hollywood Life, p.107
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's a refreshing vigour and willingness to experiment here we haven't seen since HUSBANDS AND WIVES." - 06/01/2006 Total Film, p.116
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Jonathan Rhys Meyers is sensational....It serves its dish of bitter nihilism with a lovely touch of European elan." - 06/01/2006 Premiere, p.99
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