Match Point (2005)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  If I'm not mistaken, I do believe this this is my first time seeing one of Woody Allen's purely dramatic films. And I must say, I'm not disappointed. My viewing experienced was a bit tarnished by a few unfortunate interruptions, so perhas I should rewatch it, but… More
  If I'm not mistaken, I do believe this this is my first time seeing one of Woody Allen's purely dramatic films. And I must say, I'm not disappointed. My viewing experienced was a bit tarnished by a few unfortunate interruptions, so perhas I should rewatch it, but nonetheless, I found this to be a really engrossing film. Chris is a recently retired tennis player who fidns himself among the upper crust of British society after he mankes friends with a guy named Tom. Chris begins a relationship with Tom's older sister Chloe and eventually begins an affair with Tom's fiancee Nola- an American who's a struggling actress. That's the basic set up: guy has an affair and tries his best to keep his life from unraveling as a result of all that is going on around him such as his becoming a workaholic and him and his wife havign difficulty conceiving a child. While the broad plot is nothing new, the way it is done feels fresh and seems spectacular, because that's how strong of a filmmaker Allen is. The film seemed very literary and operatic toi me, and indeed opera palys a huge role, as does literature, as research tells me this is Allen's take on Crime and Punishment, as well as a call back to his earleir film Crimes and Misdemeanors. When this came out, it marked a change of pace for olel Woody as it was his first time working with a predominately non-American cast, his first time working with Scarlett Johansson, and his first film done in the U.K. It's also rather dark, and frankly rather nihilistic, especially towards the end. This caught me off guard a bit, but I think this was a neat way to handle things. It also comes off as more classy and intelligent than most films that deal with this sort of subject matter, but it could just be because it's Woody. Who knows? The cast are quite good. Johansson is terrific as always, Jonathan Rhys Meyers is really wonderful, and Emily Mortimer and Matthew Goode are both pretty decent. Putting in a nice little supporting role is Brian Cox, and he's always a good choice, so props there as well. I've never really found Allen's films to be all that showy or stylistic from a cinematic perspective a la Mann or Scorsese, for example, but the sequence involving murder and the escape really floored me, and is a nice little stirring and rather brilliant piece of work in and of itself. In fact, besides getting interrupted a few times, my only real complaint is the inclusion of the dream sequence stuff near the end. It's not bad, but it inda took me out of the moment and I don't think it worked as well as it should have. Maybe it should have just been left out or that sort of thing should have been done throughout the whole film. All in all, this is quite a film. Here's to hoping Allen's previous dramatic works (or predominately dramatic ones like this) and any he does from now on are as strong as this. Definitely give this one a look.

• Bethany M

  
  Exceptional story from Woody Allen. One of my all time favourite films. Johnathon Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johanson are on fire. A must see!

• Spencer S

  
  A cliche that delivers upon ending, Match Point is a Woody Allen unlike any I have seen. There are are only hints of the director's presence instead of the usual grandstand, yet it's still vibrant, interpretive, and interesting. Still, a cliche is a cliche.

• Dan S

  
  An extremely well-crafted story concerning a retired tennis player (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) who becomes involved with an upper-class family after meeting their son (Matthew Goode) and hitting it off well with their daugther (Emily Mortimer). However, while the man appears to be with… More
  An extremely well-crafted story concerning a retired tennis player (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) who becomes involved with an upper-class family after meeting their son (Matthew Goode) and hitting it off well with their daugther (Emily Mortimer). However, while the man appears to be with their daughter, he really is in love with their son's fiance (Scarlett Johannson), who has a striking effect on him. This is a very well-acted, well-written movie that features a jarring tone change 3/4 of the way through. This is basically a "worst case scenario" glance at what an affair has on your life. Although it doesn't hold up as well to my memory compared to other Allen films, this is still a solid effort.

• familiar s

  
  God, what a pathetically clichéd movie on extra-marital affair!!! Sparing the last few minutes before the ending credits, the entire movie was a painful drag. Avoiding it is all I'd suggest as far as this one's concerned.

• Tony G

  
  After a string of forgettable flops, Allen gets his creative juices back with a change in locale and a focus on dramatic tension. Match Point matches Allen's eye for sexual politics with an effective murder mystery.

• Dean !

  
  I'm not a big fan of dramas but when you find a good one it just has a great way of engrossing you into the story. This is one of those films, well directed, great cast with an interesting story of greed, betrayal and desperation. A very entertaining film.

• Leigh R

  
  Eh!

• Lorenzo v

  
  I just saw Match Point and it's brilliant. And, needless to say, has great performances. Rhys-Meyers and Johansson being the obvious stand-outs. It's immediately involving, has lot's of edge of your seat stuff and has several great twists, all of which are perfectly… More
  I just saw Match Point and it's brilliant. And, needless to say, has great performances. Rhys-Meyers and Johansson being the obvious stand-outs. It's immediately involving, has lot's of edge of your seat stuff and has several great twists, all of which are perfectly plausible. This film was masterfully executed. I reserved one star because it is a bit slow in a couple of places though the film as a whole more than compensates for this.

• Alice S

  
  A masterpiece. Most people assume it's just a rehashing of the "crimes" part of <i>Crimes and Misdemeanors</i> but it's not. The two films have completely different styles, timbres, and commentaries on morality, and <i>Match… More
  A masterpiece. Most people assume it's just a rehashing of the "crimes" part of <i>Crimes and Misdemeanors</i> but it's not. The two films have completely different styles, timbres, and commentaries on morality, and <i>Match Point</i>'s is more grand and polished.

• Jens S

  
  This very cleverly constructed Woody Allen film jumps from social climber story over love drama to ice cold thriller really perfectly and still flows really evenly. The scenes are short and to the point, some events may be happening a little too fast but the plot is carried at any… More
  This very cleverly constructed Woody Allen film jumps from social climber story over love drama to ice cold thriller really perfectly and still flows really evenly. The scenes are short and to the point, some events may be happening a little too fast but the plot is carried at any time by an excellent cast, especially Rhys-Meyers and Johansson are very convincing. The audience can't help but watch how the noose keeps closing around the main character's neck and yet the movie always comes up with new turns and a pretty unusual ending. For someone who was never much of a fan of Allen's comedies, consider me impressed.

• Shauna R

  
  I watched Match Point not expecting anything that good just something to fill up the time, I didn't even noticed it was a Woody Allen film. This proved to be a very well acted, written and directed film. It was nice to see a Woody Allen film set in Britain. Scarlett Johansson was… More
  I watched Match Point not expecting anything that good just something to fill up the time, I didn't even noticed it was a Woody Allen film. This proved to be a very well acted, written and directed film. It was nice to see a Woody Allen film set in Britain. Scarlett Johansson was as usual excellent as the struggling actress. I have always been hot and cold about Jonathan Rhys-Meyers he disappoints in somethings but appears quite impressive in others. In this it was the latter, he seems a decent guy at the beginning but later transforms his character into a desperate and conniving man. The rest of the cast are brilliant aswell. If you want to watch a thrilling, clever and surprising film that just happens to be directed by Woody Allen, watch this.

• Aaron N

  
  Nola Rice: Men always seem to wonder. They think I'd be something very special. Chris Wilton: And are you? Nola Rice: Well, no one's ever asked for their money back. Besides some of the dialog, it's very hard to see this as a Woody Allen movie. Still, a good story… More
  Nola Rice: Men always seem to wonder. They think I'd be something very special. Chris Wilton: And are you? Nola Rice: Well, no one's ever asked for their money back. Besides some of the dialog, it's very hard to see this as a Woody Allen movie. Still, a good story with a lot of good moments of drama as well as suspense. It basically plays a lot like the darker half of Crimes and Misdemeanors, and eventually leaves out the hope for Allen's comic relief side of things. The story involves an affair between Johnathan Rhys-Meyers and Scarlett Johansson, which leads to eventual disparate situations. The lack of a "Woody Allen" character, as I mentioned, gives way for this film to be Allen's darkest study of drama, romance, and luck. However, despite how dark it can seem, this is still an entertaining movie and one of Allen's best efforts in some time. Nola Rice: You're gonna do very well for yourself, unless you blow it. Chris Wilton: And how am I going to blow it? Nola Rice: By making a pass at me. Chris Wilton: And what makes you think that's going to happen? Nola Rice: Men always seem to wonder.

• Tim S

  
  Rhys-Meyers is great, but Johansson gets on my nerves.

• Daniel J D

  
  Definitely not what I expected, but those sex scenes really got a bit grating after a while. I used to be a big fan of Scarlett, but her character is hardly memorable here.

• E.J. B

  
  Woody Allen does a complete 180 turn with a cleverly scripted thriller that overflows with contempt.

• Curtis L

  
  This movie suprised me. It was pretty great. I love the correlation between the ring and the tennis ball, and is it just me, or could Scarlett Johansson take over the world by just asking? Who could kill her, i mean reallY?

• Craig S

  
  <b><u>Directed by:</u> Woody Allen.</b> <b><u>Starring:</u> Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Cox, Emily Mortimer.</b> I'll start out by saying that I have never been a Woody Allen fan, I do respect the man and what… More
  <b><u>Directed by:</u> Woody Allen.</b> <b><u>Starring:</u> Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Brian Cox, Emily Mortimer.</b> I'll start out by saying that I have never been a Woody Allen fan, I do respect the man and what he has achieved and he has talent, the films I have seen by him are the more dark comedies have never struck a chord with me. I heard a lot of good things about this film, so I thought I would give it a go. Now this is definitely different to what I have seen of Woody. I must say, that the opening line of the film, which appears to be Woody Allen's thoughts on life, was very interesting and it got me sitting upright. The first hour for me played it safe, slowly build some relationships and showing some very sexy scenes between Scarlett and Jonathan and then like most slower films, the second hour usually kicks into gear. No question here, right after the hour mark, it kicked into gear and I was intrigued to see what was to happen next. And then by the end of the film.....I didn't know what to think. In that final hour, it felt as though I saw 2 different directions that this film wanted to take, it ended with the meaning of the film all fitting together, but I just felt much more intrigued by the other direction that I saw. So, I guess that, yes I enjoyed it, it was different and I was surprised to see something different from Woody Allen, but it all just felt a bit unsatisfying to me.

• Fernando Rafael Q

  
  MATCH POINT, written and directed by Woody Allen is a 2005 british film... a really interesting tale that revolves around lies, sex and murder... an amazing drama/erotic thriller that keeps you interested until the end... the script is great! creative, smart, rich, it's well shot… More
  MATCH POINT, written and directed by Woody Allen is a 2005 british film... a really interesting tale that revolves around lies, sex and murder... an amazing drama/erotic thriller that keeps you interested until the end... the script is great! creative, smart, rich, it's well shot and cut and the leading roles are wonderfully portrayed by Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Emily Mortimer... Matthew Goode is nice too... Great film by Woody Allen :)

• Wildaly M

  
  My heart was pounding as hard as I haven't heard it pound in years. Woody Allen is brilliant. I was in a complete state of shock after seeing it. Not to be missed!

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