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Title: Match Point
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, the R-rating seems like a bit of an overreaction to me. There is sexuality, but it's not graphic. Recommended for ages 12 and up. |
At the beginning of the film we hear a narrator talk about how he'd rather be lucky in life than skilled. He points out a moment in a tennis game where the tennis ball hits the net. In an instant it can either tip forward in your favor, or fall back in your opponents favor. This is known as a Match Point. The narrator of this most striking analogy is Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a professional tennis player who wants to do something else in the world. The current profession he has is too unpredictable and lacks the proper skills to get properly ahead. His ticket to a more comfortable job may be with Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who is the daughter of a man who owns a big corporation, and he's looking for someone to groom for a big position.
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Though Chris marries Chloe he is secretly having an affair with a struggling actress named Nola (Scarlett Johansson), who is currently engaged to Chloe's brother Tom (Matthew Goode). As you can plainly see, these are not good people. Everyone is using someone for their own selfish reasons. Chris is using Chloe for a comfortable life. Chloe is using Chris for a baby. Nola and Tom are using each other for similar reasons, and everyone cheats on each other because they must protect the prize they are vying for. When something happens that could jeopardize Chris's comfortable lifestyle, he must choose whether to leave his comfortable life and go after true love or not. “Match Point” is about bad people doing bad things, but what is most commonly mistaken is that this is a mere “affair film.”
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Yes, people have affairs. They cheat on each other. But then, they cheat in the business world and other social situations, so is this truly surprising? No, what this movie is about is what people will do to protect what truly matters to them. And as this film is so brutally honest, what they truly want isn't always noble. “Match Point” was written and directed by Woody Allen, and for many people is likely their first taste of what a non-romantic Woody Allen film can be. It's smart, daring, and has great dialog that perfectly supports its always building (and complex) story. When we get to the end the payoff does not disappoint.
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The ending in “Match Point” I truly feel is one of cinema's great endings. Yes, it's a twist ending, but it's a twist ending that is earned because such a thing could surprise us in the real world. It takes into account everything that came before and challenges it. It doesn't pull the rug out from us so much as it spins it with the viewer on it, and asks us to look at how we perceive luck and skill. Again, though this was advertised as a sex thriller, the ironic thing is that sex doesn't play a big part in it. The people have affairs, but we are more interested in what those affairs mean to them and how they fit in their lives. “Match Point” is easily one of Woody Allen's best films, made all the better because it doesn't feel like something he would make in the first place. See what happens when a great director steps out of his comfort zone?
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