Match Point

Unfortunately, the final quarter of the film is very different from the rest in terms of its concept, which downgrades the overall impression by at least a notch. From a fairly promising, decently acted, and emotionally powerful film, in the final moments it becomes a comical farce, humorous on its own but not quite fitting. Woody Allen makes the most out of the minimum, he pics talented actors and an attractive theme (a love triangle), places them in an even more attractive setting (English high society), and complements everything with sharp and dynamically written dialogues. But no matter how good the film may seem at the beginning, the ending is very bad and disappointing. Overall, it's something between three and four stars. (24/03/2006)

Allen can really surprise us even at an older age and he proves that he is far from done, and if he has the same tenacious roots as his dad, he will still please us film fans with a decent line of movies. Match Point is a film where I couldn't guess the name of the director and creator of the story and screenplay in advance. The film breaks away from the traditional pattern of Allen's intellectual conversation films and is more of a fateful psychological drama supported by a crime plot. The story of a careerist who wanted everything and in the end had to sacrifice a lot and some people paid a heavy price for his rise. The film's strength lies in the excellent portrayal of society and the psychological profile of the individual characters in the story. It is a very believable affair supported by great acting. Scarlett Johansson is charming and playing these types of femme fatales comes naturally to her, and the other actors also give great performances. A distinctly European film that is one of the best Allen has ever made. It proves that he is not only capable of comedy. I didn't miss not seeing him as an actor in the film at all. Overall impression: 95%. (17/01/2009)

A brilliantly written and acted conversational drama, with an ending that, as you can see from the reviews here, many viewers will find hard to stomach. But it’s the denouement of the story, surprising, somewhat cynical, going against the established stereotypes, trampling on my idealistic soul, that gives the whole narrative the right poignancy (those for whom Columbo, Perry Mason or other detective stories are daily bread will probably be unpleasantly surprised). The only weakness I can see is the character of the detective, whose speech in the final five minutes (the way he suddenly gets up from bed or gesticulates comically when he reveals his theory) pushes the story to a kind of farce. But that's really just such a small blip on the beauty of the whole. (24/09/2006)

Romance novel material. Or maybe even lust novel. After many years of not such good movies, Woody really needed the ball to fall on the right side of the net, even if it meant a drop shot. Moving the acting to London giving it a hint of Hitchcock won him the entire match. And as his following movies show, this was no swan song or stroke of luck. Thank god. (26/12/2008)

My relationship with Woody Allen's films has evolved (or perhaps is still evolving). There was a time when I was crazy about his films, but my enthusiasm has somewhat waned since then and I'll have to revise some of my ratings. This does not affect Match Point, though. Not only is it not a comedy, but it has an interesting plot, and the personality of the main "hero" goes through an interesting development. Personally, I always appreciate a film about a spineless, self-centered asshole. I can finally experience emotions that I don’t get to feel often when watching movies. Filmmakers always try to move me or thrill me, but sometimes it's also nice to feel disgusted and repulsed by some asshole's actions. To my satisfaction, this movie does a great job of it. (24/12/2021)