Match Point

This is a terrifc movie. I've actually not seen very many movies by Woody Allen, but I was obligated to see Match Point because of Scarlet Johannsen. I was expecting a literate, dialogue-heavy script with well-developed characterizations, and this movie certainly delivered in that respect. What surprised me was how beautifully made this movie is, though I think a lot of the credit for that goes to cinematographer Remi Adefarasin.

The movie is about a young Irishman, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who has had a mediocre career as a professional tennis player and grudgingly quits to become an instructor at a British tennis club. He meets the sister of one of his well-bred clients, and is soon married into one of Britain's upper-class families and given a position in the family business. He is skyrocketing up the social ladder and has a women who loves him dearly, and all seems well except for one fatal flaw - his obsession with a sexy but struggling American actress named Nola Rice (Scarlett Johanssen), who happens to be engaged to his brother-in-law!

The introduction of Scarlett Johannsen injects a lot of sexual tension into the movie, and it gradually escalates into a taut psychological thriller. But the part that I liked the best is the way it displays the nuances of people and relationships, in particular a sensible yet passionless marriage, and a passionate affair that has no future. The roles are played very well by the two main actors, Rhys Meyers and Johannsen. As noted in several reviews, Match Point is very similar to the classic A Place in the Sun, with enough plot changes and role reversals to keep the story fresh and original. Rhys Meyers' Montgomery Clift is set against Johannsen's bizarre mixture of Shelley Winters and a young Elizabeth Taylor in a very entertaining and intriguing movie.