MATCH POINT
ICON FILM DISTRIBUTION
RELEASED 6 January 2006
Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) used to play professional tennis but realised he was never going to reach the heights, so quit to become a coach at an exclusive (aren’t they all) tennis club. There he meets a new student, Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who instantly takes a shine to Chris’ friendly manner, and decides he should meet his family and sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer). Hanging out with the filthy-rich Hewett family (father played by Brian Cox, mother played by Penelope Wilton) for a spot of shooting and afternoon G&Ts, it isn’t long before Chris has Chloe in his bed, a job in ‘Daddy’s company, and a new flat overlooking the Thames, with the Houses of Parliament across the ‘street’! Life seems to be dealing Chris a good hand, but things start to get complicated when he meets Nola (Scarlett Johansson), Tom’s fiancée. He lusts after her until he gets what he wants, but she wants no more to do with him, leaving the country soon after. Marrying Chloe and trying for a family, who should walk back into Chris’ life? Yes, you’ve guessed it. Adultery and shocking actions follow with unexpected results.
Oh, for the Woody Allen of the seventies! It’s great to have him making a film in London, but he’s at least twenty years too late. Allen has only made four good movies since ‘Hannah and Her Sisters’ in 1986 (1999’s ‘Sweet and Lowdown’, 1996’s ‘Everyone Says I Love You’, 1995’s ‘Mighty Aphrodite’, and 1993’s ‘Manhattan Murder Mystery’), with everything else fading from memory faster than you can say ‘hold the mayo’. He brought sophistication and style to his Manhattan movies (notably ‘Manhattan’ and ‘Annie Hall’) which we always envied from across the pond. Everything he got right about New York, he gets wrong about London. I don’t recognise this world he’s set his story in. It’s filled with characters that have no soul, no background, no sense of humour. All they seem to be interested in is money and the trappings of wealth. They whine, they expect more, they’re greedy. The ostentatiousness inherent in ‘Match Point’ is disgusting. London looks good in the quick tourist brochure shots we get, but this is mainly the London of Kensington and Chelsea, not the multi-cultured London most of us know. I won’t bang on about the complete lack of any non-white characters in the film, but there is one black actor in it, and at the very end too.
Chris Wilton is supposed to be Irish, but Jonathan Rhys Meyers sounds like a blue-blood. He does a pretty good job acting-wise, but he’s a horrible character without charm, who seems to get ahead in life by being exceptionally polite. I know the English have a reputation for politeness, but it doesn’t get you the keys to the castle!
Emily Mortimer starts the movie as a joyous, fun-loving woman who turns into a broody nag from hell. It’s little surprise her husband cheats on her when all he gets is, ‘baby, sex now, baby, clock ticking, baby, baby, baby...’
Star of the movie Scarlett Johansson had a great 2003 which launched her face into the collective conciousness, but she’s done little since of note, and this is easily her worst work to date. Her delivery is off, her acting is over-the-top, and she has to take part in some tacky Barbara Cartland-style sex scenes. I do believe that this is all the script and director’s fault, because she hasn’t suddenly become a bad actress. For Scarlett’s numerous male fans, you’ll be glad to know she has a scene in a wet shirt, and nearly ‘pops out’ more than once. That’s about the highlight of her performance.
The only actor to appear genuine in ‘Match Point’ is a late-appearing Jimmy Nesbitt. His easy-mannered and dry-humoured Police Inspector actually livens up the end of the movie, but the movie’s as dead as a doornail by then.
Why the BBC invested in ‘Match Point’ is beyond me. Allen apparently never shows anyone his script or even the film’s general plotline before shooting, so I guess they took a huge gamble here which has failed to pay off. As a promotional tool for the London Tourist Board (which this film is being used as), I’d hardly say a film about selfish rich people who end up getting involved in drug-related shootings will do much for Americans wanting to come over here. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
The worst film of 2006, and I knew that straight away in January.
ONE OUT OF FIVE