Match Point
Face it friends, Woody Allen has had some stinkers in the past. "Everyone Says I Love You" comes to mind... ugh. And "Melinda, Melinda" just dragged. Match Point, however, is a bright light in an otherwise dark past few years. Once again, Allen shows us that even though you have culture and taste and money, there is no guarantee that you will lead the perfect life.
First of all, I don't know where these people come from in Allen's mind. Even as far back as Annie Hall, he has made the statement that most people who have culture flaunt what little they have, making them seem pretentious. The people who know that they have taste don't feel the need to flaunt it. If they have insecurities, they don't over-compensate by becoming obtuse self centered assholes. However, because the characters in this family don't act like said assholes, their performance becomes flat, dull, and uninspired. Was this done on purpose to make Rhys-Meyers and Johannsen stand out as the only two people in the film who had half a heart? Or was it the acting? I've seen Emily Mortimer act before- she's not horrible- but there were no supporting acting awards to be thrown around in this film. The supporting cast gave us nothing more than extras with lines.
Criticism aside, I thought that the story itself would (at the very least!) make Robert Altman proud. (Anyone who has seen the Player knows what I mean... The Hollywood ending that Tim Robbins's character threw into the writer's vision in The Player is exactly what this film could have turned into had it been conceived by anyone other than Allen.) I was literally shaking by the end of the film because I was so afraid for Chris. His character made SO many mistakes and it was just sheer luck that brought him through it... and at the end, like so many other people, I just sat there saying "I can't believe it."
But it poses the question about relationships (at least in my mind): Are we in our relationships because it's our way of life? Because it's more important to preserve a quality of life than to get what we really think we want? And when and if we do get what we really think we want, how long will it be before we realize that what we already had was more than sufficient? Why must we always look for more? (In the words of Matt Johnson: "Have you ever wanted something so badly that it possessed your body and your soul through the night and through the day until you finally get it... and then you realize that it wasn't what you wanted after all?") Granted, given Woody Allen's private life, I'm sure that he has asked himself these questions more than once, and you can certainly feel his personal life bleeding into the film.
I found it interesting for him to bring the New York feeling to the streets of London. After all, it isn't only in New York where people are so wrapped up in their own lives that someone can get away with murder- where drug crimes become so commonplace that investigations are solved at face value. When we know the real secret- when we know what really happened, we're quick to jump the gun and place blame. But if we were on the other side, would we be able to figure it out?
It was a really good movie that kept me interested, but I can see how some people wouldn't like it. If you're looking for a lot of action, this is not a movie for you. It runs slowly and methodically with a lot of dialogue and opera music, and some of the characters don't go anywhere which could frustrate the typical audience member. You really have to be into dialogue movies like those of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, or Robert Altman to stick it out. It's a great story if you do, though.
First of all, I don't know where these people come from in Allen's mind. Even as far back as Annie Hall, he has made the statement that most people who have culture flaunt what little they have, making them seem pretentious. The people who know that they have taste don't feel the need to flaunt it. If they have insecurities, they don't over-compensate by becoming obtuse self centered assholes. However, because the characters in this family don't act like said assholes, their performance becomes flat, dull, and uninspired. Was this done on purpose to make Rhys-Meyers and Johannsen stand out as the only two people in the film who had half a heart? Or was it the acting? I've seen Emily Mortimer act before- she's not horrible- but there were no supporting acting awards to be thrown around in this film. The supporting cast gave us nothing more than extras with lines.
Criticism aside, I thought that the story itself would (at the very least!) make Robert Altman proud. (Anyone who has seen the Player knows what I mean... The Hollywood ending that Tim Robbins's character threw into the writer's vision in The Player is exactly what this film could have turned into had it been conceived by anyone other than Allen.) I was literally shaking by the end of the film because I was so afraid for Chris. His character made SO many mistakes and it was just sheer luck that brought him through it... and at the end, like so many other people, I just sat there saying "I can't believe it."
But it poses the question about relationships (at least in my mind): Are we in our relationships because it's our way of life? Because it's more important to preserve a quality of life than to get what we really think we want? And when and if we do get what we really think we want, how long will it be before we realize that what we already had was more than sufficient? Why must we always look for more? (In the words of Matt Johnson: "Have you ever wanted something so badly that it possessed your body and your soul through the night and through the day until you finally get it... and then you realize that it wasn't what you wanted after all?") Granted, given Woody Allen's private life, I'm sure that he has asked himself these questions more than once, and you can certainly feel his personal life bleeding into the film.
I found it interesting for him to bring the New York feeling to the streets of London. After all, it isn't only in New York where people are so wrapped up in their own lives that someone can get away with murder- where drug crimes become so commonplace that investigations are solved at face value. When we know the real secret- when we know what really happened, we're quick to jump the gun and place blame. But if we were on the other side, would we be able to figure it out?
It was a really good movie that kept me interested, but I can see how some people wouldn't like it. If you're looking for a lot of action, this is not a movie for you. It runs slowly and methodically with a lot of dialogue and opera music, and some of the characters don't go anywhere which could frustrate the typical audience member. You really have to be into dialogue movies like those of Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, or Robert Altman to stick it out. It's a great story if you do, though.
posted by Susan at
6/28/2006
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