Match Point

 
If you want to bring elegance to the peddling of adulterous characters, you go to the UK. Then, if you want those characters to grapple with the moralities of such infidelities with a ripple of intellectual competence, you go to Woody Allen, and he is truly in exceptional form here.

The story rotates around a former tennis pro named Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who has just taken a position at an fashionable club for London's famously affluent elite. Chris soon meets Tom (Matthew Goode) and they strike up a companionship, through not only their love for tennis but also their love of opera. Tom introduces Chris to his sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer) who instantly falls for Chris. Chris and Chloe start dating and everything is going great until Chris meets up with Tom's fiancée Nola (Scarlett Johansson). From here, Of course, infidelity is just around the corner as Chris’s fixation with Nola takes him down a dangerous path of deception and passion and into a very serious dilemma than will ultimately make or break him.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is fascinating as the soft-spoken Chris, whose role as the central character takes some less than savory twists as he digs himself deeper into a whole clutter of lies and deceptions. As such, Chris is far from agreeable, but Jonathan Rhys-Meyers has such a firm handle on his complicatedly written character that he is worth following and getting involved with throughout the two-hour-plus running time. In addition, Scarlett Johansson performance is superb as she continues her graceful climb to the top of today's celebrated young actress register. One is not quite sure what Nola’s objectives are but she is written and acted with understanding, sincerity and unanticipated dimensions.

This film also includes several fresh variations on a typical Woody Allen film, most strikingly was the decision of shooting the film entirely in Britain and not his beloved Manhattan (The film is almost worth the price of admission just to see the shots of London that are luxuriant, spacious and never self-indulgent.) However, that stated, it does contain some numerous highly amusing moments that are typical of his humour and touches like the scratchy old opera record, which is frequently played in the background, is one of many characteristic that constantly remind you that you are watching a Woody Allen film.

Allen has managed to put together a superb cast of young actors who bring his near flawless script to life so convincingly that one almost immediately suspends disbelief and becomes absorbed in the story. Match Point is a cool, classically elegant and concise film that addresses all of the big questions - love, morality, death, fate, chance - without ever seeming heavy or self-conscious. Few films manage to form such rich dramatic material out of character's inner obstacles. This is not only Allen at his best but an example of what the cinematic medium is capable of when properly exploited.

.
 
Paul Elliott