Movie: Match Point

Match Point (unless I am mistaken) is the first Woody Allen movie I have ever seen. I can't compare this film to any of his other oft-debated pictures, be they lauded successes, cataclysmic failures, or something in between. However, I can say that it is easily one of the best movies I have seen this year, which is impressive given how unremarkable the plot is, in many respects.

I felt that this was a story about the opposite sex as a possession. There are very few, if any, glimpses at true love. Instead, you get anything and everything that we have mistaken for love throughout the years: security, lust, comfort, acceptance.... But you never get the spark. Or, perhaps, you occasionally get a spark, but it never seems to ignite a flame.

Relationships in this story don't just happen; they fulfill purposes. Jonathan Rhys Meyers uses his to rise into a position of status; you get the impression from the moment he meets his future wife (Emily Mortimer) that he feels very little for her, and yet will undoubtedly pursue and win her anyway. Not that she is an innocent victim. After her all-too-brief girlish dance through her emotions, her true joy appears to be speaking about the minutia of their relationship with her upper-class friends. It is as if the only thing better than having a baby is getting to complain about fertility troubles over tea.

Scarlett Johansson is no better. We see her as Rhys Meyers does for the bulk of the film. At first, she is a flawless goddess. She is about as far in the clouds as most men would dare to dream of achieving. And it makes the lengths that he goes to in efforts to keep her near him almost understandable. (Appalling, but understandable.) As time passes, and the real world begins to fog his fantasy, her flaws become much more apparent, culminating in truly shocking fashion later in the film.

There is no real hero in Match Point, and no true villian. There are shades of virtue blended with deceit and darkness. The societal veneer is barely enough to conceal the less-than-altruistic intentions of these characters. And while the movie may not lift your spirits or reaffirm your confidence in the goodness of man, it is so compelling and wonderful to watch that it hardly matters.

Categories: Movies