Match Point

Although Match Point was both directed and written by Woody Allen, it bears little resemblance to the assembly-line productions the Woody Allen factory has churned out for many years now. This is not a case of fast-talking hypochondriacs in a somewhat failed comedy that reeks of half-hearted effort.

Match Point strikes a far more serious note right from the opening sequence, which illustrates how easily chance affects life, just as when a tennis ball clips the net and can fall to one side or the other. The ball never fell on the right side while the Irishman Chris Wilton was a professional tennis player, but perhaps his luck is about to turn. He now coaches wealthy people in London, but he has ambitions of something more. Very conveniently he becomes friends with Tom, one of his pupils, and later also with Tom's sister, Chloe, who quickly develops warm feelings for the charming and cultured Chris. Since Chris does think Chloe is very sweet, and Chloe's parents quickly see the potential in the well-mannered young man, it is not a big step to marriage into the wealthy English upper-class family.

There is, however, a pebble in the otherwise so well-fitting shoe. Chris falls head over heels for Tom's sexy American fiancée Nola, who is trying without much luck to make it as an actress. Chris cannot control his desire, so when Tom breaks off the engagement with the unsuitable match, Chris and Nola throw themselves headlong into an affair. As a viewer you are in no doubt that it can only end badly, for Chris is not prepared to give up his comfortable first-class life for Nola's sake. In the end he sees no other way out than to commit a crime to escape his dilemma. Will he be punished, or will luck be on his side once again?

Match Point may well contain a somewhat stereotyped and outdated view of the English upper class, but that cannot detract from the fact that it is a stylish and fascinating drama with an effective and relentlessly escalating crime plot.