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Match Point (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:36
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.9/10
Consensus: Woody Allen’s sharpest film in years, Match Point is a taut, philosophical thriller about class and infidelity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 40 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 28, 2005 Limited
Box Office: $23,089,926
Synopsis: "The man who said 'I'd rather be lucky than good' saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control.... "The man who said 'I'd rather be lucky than good' saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control. There are moments in a match when the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second it can either go forward or fall back. With a little luck, it goes forward and you win…or maybe it doesn't, and you lose." A one-time tennis pro, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) was used to falling just short in his life. But when he befriends Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) and marries his sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), the doors are opened to the kind of money and success that Chris had once only dreamed of having. Chris should have settled for happiness, but he is torn by his attraction to Tom's impossibly beautiful and alluring fiancée, Nola (Scarlett Johansson). The attraction turns to an obsession that forces Chris to make a critical choice. Now everything in his life hinges on whether or not Chris falls short again…and if his luck runs out. "Match Point" is a drama about ambition and obsession, the seduction of wealth, and the often irreconcilable relationship between love and sexual passion. Perhaps most importantly, however, the story reveals the huge part luck plays in the events of our lives, refuting the comforting misconception that more of life is under our control than really is. Written and directed by Academy Award® winner Woody Allen ("Annie Hall," "Hannah and Her Sisters"), "Match Point" represents a departure for the native New Yorker, the majority of whose films lovingly depict New York and—not always so lovingly—New Yorkers. Crossing the Atlantic for the first time in his film career, Allen set "Match Point" in London, where it was also filmed. The film stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers ("Bend It Like Beckham," TV's "Elvis"), Scarlett Johansson ("Lost in Translation," "Girl With a Pearl Earring"), Emily Mortimer ("Lovely and Amazing," "Dear Frankie"), Matthew Goode ("Chasing Liberty"), Brian Cox ("The Bourne Identity," "Red Eye") and Penelope Wilton ("Iris," "Pride & Prejudice"). Premiering to rave reviews at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, "Match Point" was produced by Letty Aronson, Gareth Wiley and Lucy Darwin. Stephen Tenenbaum served as the executive producer, with Helen Robin and Nicky Kentish Barnes co-producing, and Jack Rollins and Charles H. Joffe co-executive producing. "Match Point" will be distributed domestically by DreamWorks. --© DreamWorks [More]
Starring: Jonathan Rhys-Myers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode
Starring: Jonathan Rhys-Myers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, Penelope Wilton, Paul Kaye, Anthony O'Donnell, John Fortune, Rupert Penry-Jones, Margaret Tyzack, Scott Handy, Selina Cadell, Colin Salmon, Steve Pemberton, Ewen Bremner, James Nesbitt
Director: Woody Allen
Director: Woody Allen
Screenwriter: Woody Allen
Producer: Lucy Darwin, Helen Robin, Gareth Wiley
Composer: Gaetano Donizetti, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi
Studio: DreamWorks Distribution LLC
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Reviews for Match Point
In every scene, Allen's direction is unflinchingly clear-eyed, and it's a pleasure being walked through London at the same unhurried pace that he's taken through Manhattan all these years.
Johansson finds her own speech rhythms in Allen's arch dialogue, and in the process, gives his film a quality that his recent work has often lacked, the recognizable flutter of a heart beat behind the façade of the character.
This is Woody beyond Woody, his best work in more than a decade and the antithesis of most fans' expectations.
Match Point, a film that makes us examine well-considered questions in new light, is what Woody Allen sees when he gets out of his comfort zone, we can only hope he sees the benefit of travel.
The combination of alluring atmosphere and ambition makes Match Point one of Allen's most involving movies in years.
Woody Allen's Match Point is a too-rare thing: a fine film that waxes philosophical about morality, ambition and relationships.
It's a film worth seeing several times. If you're lucky enough to get the chance.
Match Point is Woody Allen's best picture in more than a decade -- an excellent character piece/social study that evolves into a suspense thriller with an O. Henry twist.
Allen has finally emerged as something of a storyteller and a stylist.
It has Woody’s humor and subtlety; no British bluntness here. The acting is first-cabin all the way. And it’s genuinely moving. Move it to the top of your must-see list.
Philosophically and plotwise, it's right in line with some of his previous work. Yet Match Point breaks new ground in a handful of significant ways.
This is a wonderfully provocative film with complex characters and breathless twists and turns.
What begins as a directorial fresh start becomes a statement of misanthropy that isn't artistically insightful so much as it's resolute.
If ever there was a case to be made for an artist finding inspiration abroad, Allen's first foray out of New York makes a powerful argument.
It's a pleasure to let the Allenisms wash over you, ever so slightly disguised in the form of a taut dramatic thriller but never diluted.
England clearly agrees with Allen, and in Match Point he has hit a top-spin winner.
A story of lust, love and the lure of money, Match Point is so thoroughly compelling, and so deftly acted by all parties concerned, that it turns and churns deep in the gut.
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