Woody Allen’s Match Point a mismatch?

Match Point is a change of pace from director Woody Allen’s usual New York locale to a swankier London setting for his newest film. A modern-day film noir, Match Point is about two young hopefuls who scale the social ladder and get caught up in a web of lies, lust and deception
The film begins with a voice over by main character Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), accompanied by a visual of a tennis ball sailing back and forth across the net. His first lines tell us exactly what director Woody Allen intended the film to be about – luck. “The man who said I’d rather be lucky than good, saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It’s scary to think so much is out of one’s control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck it goes forward, and you win. Or maybe it doesn’t, and you lose.” The scene fades out with the ball suspended in the air, leaving viewers wondering which side of the net it will drop on.
In his climb to the top of London’s social ladder, Chris Wilton befriends a wealthy young Tom (Matthew Goode), one of his tennis students at the posh English tennis club where he is employed. After quickly becoming friends, Chris is introduced to Tom’s sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). This friendship soon turns to romance as Chloe expresses her desire. The day Chris meets Nola (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling American actress who also happens to be Tom’s fiancée, his relationship with Chloe is doomed. Nola simply oozes sex appeal, and what happens during their impending affair would make Chris’s innocent wife blush. From their first words, Nola to Chris, “Who’s my next victim?”, to the conversation ending in Chris asking Nola “Has anyone ever told you that you have sensual lips?” their meeting is doomed to be destructive.
Unable to deny the magnetic attraction any longer, they begin an indiscreet, whirlwind affair that abruptly ends when Tom calls off his engagement with Nola for another woman, and she returns to the United States. Months later, Chris bumps into Nola at a gallery and the relationship begins again, yet this time it’s more intense and has greater consequence.
Unsatisfied with what his life has become, Chris is reluctant to let anything harm his financially fulfilling marriage to Chloe yet he cannot seem to resist the sexual satisfaction Nola offers him. Chloe’s father provides Chris with a job, promotions, and more perks than he ever imagined, forcing him to choose between wealth and stability, or an unpredictable, yet satisfying future. But as his social status becomes more demanding so does his relationship with Nola, and he is forced to make promises and deals that he cannot commit to.
Although Rhys-Meyers character is played with a detached sense of emotion and an obvious lack of morals, his acting conveys perfectly how the stress of the situation is starting to get to him. In a drastic twist towards the end, Chris finds himself carrying out an unforgivable act in order to free himself from the demanding web of lies and deception he has woven for himself.
The film ends with a drastic twist in plot, catching viewers off guard and gluing them to the edge of their seats, however when the film comes to its somewhat satisfying conclusion, many questions are left unanswered.
The acting by the main characters in Match Point leaves a lot to be desired. Though both strong actors, Johansson’s screen presence in this film overpowers that of Rhys-Meyers creating a strange unbalanced chemistry that borders on awkwardness. Rhys-Meyers in this role personifies a distant, detached character who feels no remorse or consequence for his actions perfectly. At first this appears to be flat acting, yet later it becomes glaringly obvious that this non-emotion is the essence of his character.
Nola begins as a confident and sexy American actress, but her façade reveals more and more cracks as the plot develops. Everything appealing that Johansson brought to the table in the first half of the film suddenly dissolves, leaving viewers with an emotional and unpredictable mess of a character toward the end. This is where her scenes become very wooden and scripted, as if Allen is standing just off camera and choreographing her every move. What are meant to be climactic scenes between Nola and Chris unfold with an almost embarrassing lack of emotion.
The film is supported by outstanding acting from supplementary characters played by Matthew Goode, Emily Mortimer and Brian Cox. Almost all comic relief is provided by Cox’s role as the wealthy English father who makes constant cracks at his wife’s overindulgence in alcohol. Mortimer as Chloe plays the part of innocent and unsuspecting wife flawlessly, offering the only real emotion in the film.
Match Point is a dark yet basic film about romantic obsession and class difference, portraying the struggle for a better life within a closed society. Woody Allen seems to strive for the raw emotion and honesty we witnessed in 2004s Closer, yet he does not come close to achieving the same response director Mike Nichols provided audiences with.
Just as the tennis ball appears in the opening scene, the verdict on this film is in the air. Director Woody Allen without a doubt has created a work of perfection, each scene meticulously put together with top notch character casting, but the final product is questionable and leaves a lot to be desired.