Match Point [2006]

See Larger Image	List Price: £17.99 Our Price: £4.87 Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Manufacturer: Warner Home Video (Icon) Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Alexander Armstrong Directed By: Woody Allen Average Customer Rating:


Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 7321900876940 Format: PAL Label: Warner Home Video (Icon) Manufacturer: Warner Home Video (Icon) Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video (Icon) Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2006-05-08 Running Time: 119 Studio: Warner Home Video (Icon) Theatrical Release Date: 2005-12-29
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Editorial Reviews: And so Woody Allen picks up his camera and moves the location of his latest film across the channel to London. In the process? Match Point becomes one of his finer efforts of recent times. Jonathan Rhys Meyers leads the cast as Chris Wilton, a former professional tennis player, who quickly lands himself a job as a coach. As he goes about his business, he meets Chloe (Emily Mortimer), and a relationship soon ensues, much to the delight of her family. With some speed, he quickly finds himself working for her father (Brian Cox), and wedding bells aren’t too far away. Yet there’s a fly in the ointment, in the shapely form of Chloe’s brother’s girlfriend, played by Scarlet Johansson. Johansson’s powers of attraction--and bluntly, she looks terrific here--aren’t lost on him, setting the stage for an intriguing mix of thriller and drama that comes very much alive in the final act. Allen wisely utilises London not just to give his film a different feel to usual, but also to embellish it with a strong cast of primarily British actors. And while Match Point doesn’t deliver the clever humour and wry laughs you find in the majority of the prolific writer-director’s work, this is still very much an engaging film. Ironically, those likely to warm to the film the least are Allen’s most loyal fanbase. Save for the minimalist credits and the jazz soundtrack, it’s hard to tell he’s behind the camera with Match Point, and that has the trade off of making it accessible to those not usually won over by Woody Allen’s talents. And yet still, there’s something for everyone here, and while Match Point is far from the peak of Allen’s work, it’s still a fine addition to an exemplary body of work.--Simon Brew
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Allen Finds Britain, The Upper-Class's Spirit And Comes Out With An Excellent Drama. Comment: Excellent film, has Allen's paw-marks all over it, despite it being something of a new experience for him. Since Lost In Trainslation, Johansson has not really lived up to her expectations and in Match Point she still struggles. Somehow I get the feeling that we're supposed to care for her character, but it just doesn't come off that way. She may be Allen's latest muse, the one her relies on to bring the light to his films, but he's had better certainly. Rhys Meyers is excellent in that straight-ahead Queen's English speaking kind of way, while the rest of the cast don't really have a great deal to do. However Meyers and Johansson do at least have chemistry which is something that a lot of volatile on-screen affair seem to lack these days however as with most Allen films, he has chosen his actors well. Despite the feeling of the film being over-long, it is one of his best films in quite some time, this drama-cum-noir is something to watch for people wanting to see an excellent drama with an impressive soundtrack to boot. 3.5 / 5. Customer Rating: Summary: Predictable, trite, unreal and worst of all - boring Comment: There is an increasing body of opinion that Woody Allen's late movies are actually subtle and powerful explorations of the human heart, or something, and that his long-term fans are silly and shallow people who want him to go on making things like Sleeper or Bananas. The people who have these opinions seem to be ignorant of the films that Allen made between 1977 and 1997, a period that includes Annie Hall, Manhattan, Zelig, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives and Deconstructing Harry (among others). Most people who admire Woody Allen admire him because he made films like these. To us, the decline in the quality of Allen's recent movies is painfully obvious. Match Point is where I knew that something was going seriously wrong. For a while, I hadn't been much bothered with following Woody's output. Films like Bullets Over Broadway and Small Time Crooks had been cute, but nothing special. Sweet and Lowdown was the last one that had really showed the master's touch, with superb performances from Sean Penn and Samantha Morton. Then my wife and I rented Anything Else. It wasn't bad, but it was the first genuinely forgettable Woody Allen film either of us had seen - slight and neither very funny nor particularly involving. Then, in Paris and stuck for something to do one evening, we decided to see Match Point. I have seldom regretted so much the price of a cinema ticket. It is clear from the first few minutes of the movie that Allen doesn't really know these people, or anyone like them. The wannabe-Dostoyevskyan plot is completely at odds with the unreal milieu, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers' acting chops were severely inadequate (he's got better since, but not much better). The really horrifying thing about Match Point is that it has absolutely no pleasure for the viewer. I am not the kind of person who is good at spotting how plots are going to twist, but even I could see up to half an hour in advance what was going to happen next. The characters are so cardboard that you are not even able to care for them. Sitting in the Parisian cinema, I experienced the kind of painful boredom that I normally associate with going to the theatre. If Match Point were by anyone other than Woody Allen, it would have been rightly panned as a slipshod, amateurish piece of nonsense by somebody who should make a film about real people. If the people who admire Match Point had seen any of the genuinely great movies that Woody Allen made when he was at the peak of his powers, they would see this one for what it is. This is the guy who made films as sharp and witty as Zelig, as warm as Radio Days, as scalding as Husbands and Wives, as haunting as Crimes and Misdemeanors, as sublimely bad-tempered as Deconstructing Harry, as romantic as Manhattan and as subtle and involving as Hannah and Her Sisters. It's just very sad to see him floundering around like this. Customer Rating: Summary: Match Point-What's the Point!! Comment: GOD,this is a bad film,so disappointing to see the great mr allen churn out such dross,script-poor,acting-very poor,characters-unlikeable,the whole thing makes very little sense,even the stunning mrs johansson can't make it watchable,and just a side point jonathan rhys meyers,playing "a poor irish boy",presumably under direction,adopts an accent posher than any of the toff family he marries in to.i'm writing this as i watch the film and every scene confirms my opinion. Customer Rating: Summary: I'm not a Woody Allen film, but I really enjoyed this!!! Comment: Woody Allen is a film director whom I've never liked, I came about this film after seeing that Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson star in it, plus Brian Cox and a number of other British actors I respect too. I watched the trailer and decided to take a punt on buying the film, I'm very pleased I did, this is a good drama about a married man who's trying to start a family with his wife and finds himself tempted by Nola (Scarlett Johansson) and they begin an affair. The trouble begins when Nola announces to him that she's pregnant by Chris (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Nola starts to put pressure on Chris to tell his wife of their affair and in turn to leave his wife for her. Chris decides to try to end his problems in his personal life once and for all, I found the last half hour in particular very enjoyable wondering how things were going to turn out, not your usual Hollywood kind of ending which I found very refreshing. Good solid performances from the whole cast, no award winning performances, but I had no problem with any performance. From what I've seen of Woody Allen in the past this film takes a completely different turn from his usual films, I found some moments funny in a very dark way, but a serious film overall, possibly a touch gloomy for some people, but I definately enjoyed it, more like this and I may even become a Woody Allen fan!!! Customer Rating: Summary: top 'o Comment: this was a great film. For some reason i'd got it in my head that this film and Wimbledon were similar - how wrong i was. For while Wimbledon is simply a lighthearted chick flick with not a lot to it Match Point is clever, thrilling and erotic with a great many twists and turns that really kept me on my seat the entire duration. Meyers and Johansson bounce well off each other and the chemistry between the two is pretty realistic. All in all a great way to spend a couple of hours and you'll be surprised and amazed by the end. More Reviews