Match Point

Monday, March 13, 2006

year: 2005
directed by: Woody Allen
written by: Woody Allen
notable cast: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer Paparelli's rating:

(0 = worst, **** = best)

The true star of this movie is of course Woody Allen. This movie belongs to a line of careful explorations of human nature. 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' and 'Mighty Aphrodite' are other examples of such films of his. In these dramas Allen builds upon the work of the classical playwrights and storytellers and adds to the insight in human nature by employing storytelling devices rarely seen in movies today.

For instance, the way two deceased characters return to have a discussion with their killer is done in a very subtle way. It's truly used to reflect the character's thoughts and not brought on as a cheap effect.

His mark in the direction of the actors is very recognizable. On several occassions actors garble their lines which forces them to improvise and stay in character. This makes the overall pace of the movie very fresh and realistic.

The story that Allen tells is a disturbing one. The events that occur bear some resemblance to those in 'Crimes and Misdemeanors', but the subject matter is different. Where 'Crimes and Misdemeanors' has a straightforward message (the fear of getting caught can be mistaken for feelings of guilt and remorse, sometimes even by the perpetrator self), 'Match Point' actually explores a much wider range of the human psyche and human interaction.

'Match Point' is about how people accept responsibility for their lives and actions. About blaming incidents and forces outside one's control for bad things that happen and about being realistic and settling for less. Another theme is how someone's purpose can seem chance to someone else. These considerations are reflected by several well defined main characters, and a set of minor character who show much more depth than usually in other movies.

I've seen this movie twice, and I'd go see it again right away if it were still showing in the local theatres, but unfortunately they stopped showing it already (personally I think the refresh rate is way too high, especially for the more interesting movies). But still after seeing it 2 times and thinking it over, I keep discovering new themes and aspects to this movie. This led me to the conclusion that a good movie doesn't let itself be summarized in a few lines of text. The movie is the message, so if you want to know what it's really about, simply go see it.

About the dialogue and acting I can say that it stands up to the level of quality we're used to from Woody Allen's movies. The movie has great camerawork, great editing all very well considered and useful in telling the story. Johansson (who is an absolute peach) and Mortimer are very convincing, where Rhys Meyers is sometimes a bit too shaky to my taste, although it does fit with the character he's playing.

Another Woody Allen trademark is that he uses very talented and experienced actors for each and every part, even the minor parts who only have a few lines. This movie is an overall gem and there's some danger in taking all this perfection for granted.

2 Comments:

At 03 April, 2006 01:43, Anonymous said…

Ik ben het helemaal eens met deze bespreking.Ik hoop dat er nog meer films op deze site komen te staan.
At 15 September, 2006 08:27, Anonymous said…

wij hebben hem na 30 minuten uitgezet, helaas! Het belachelijke begin "Van welke muziek hou je? " "Opera" "oh mijn vader heeft een loge, ga je mee" om vervolgens "Goh, kom je dit weekend ook langs" "Goh, je gaat met mijn zus" "Goh, ik regel een baan"....pfffffffffff dat had veel beter uitgewerkt gemoeten, waardoor wij ons zaten te ergeren aan de rest...
Groet Noor en Marnix