WHY ARE YOU TEASING ME IT DOESN'T COME OUT UNTIL FRIDAY.

A+

i was expecting at least 4 or 5 or 12 people to have posted telling me how great this is by now:/

ugh.


ps, why do zingaling and krem own da torri?

to get to the other side.

B


Since no one else is posting their reviews, I thought I'd post my thoughts.

Match Point is a good, but not great effort by Woody Allen? Is he back in form? I am not sure because the last movie I have seen by him is The Curse of the Jade Scorpion and Match Point is, indeed, at least better than that one. But is it an Allen masterpiece? No, I certainly wouldn't say so.

My problems mainly lie in the first half of the movie. I rememeber someone asking whether the international trailer for the movie is deceiving as opposed to the domestic one. Well, I would rather say it's the opposite. While the domestic trailer doesn't falsely market the movie by any means (unlike, say, The Family Stone's trailer), it doesn't set the mood of the movie as well as the international trailer. The movie is really not a relationships drama like Closer. Relationships, cheating and consequences of that are not the main theme of the movie and they were never intended to be. Luck is what palys the major role in this movie. Matcxh Point is about the importance of luck in our life, the importance that we fail to notice most of the time. In this aspect the movie really succeeds, but that is mostly in the second part of the movie.

It is the first part that I had my problems with, frankly for the movie not really moving into any direction and coming across as rather tedious and forced at times. Thankfully it improves over its running time, but the first hour still left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. This is not to say that there aren#t a couple of brilliant scenes there as well. The small talk between Nola and Chris in that cafe is one of the best staged and best shot dialogues I have seen in a while. Masterfully created scene.

Another real stand-out about the movie is the music. It's the same that plays during the international trailer and it really fits the movie well. The way the music is used towards the end in order to raise suspense is pitch-perfect. Speaking of the end...despite the slow start, the movie's ending really brings the point home and makes the ending one of the most perfect endings I have seen in all 2005.

As far as the acting goes, I would have to say that the praise for Scarlett Johansson is undeserved. She has been better before and the supporting performances of Diane Keaton and Maria Bello (if you call that supporting) have been far superior. Johansson was just okay, I was a bit disappointed. Now Johnathan Rhys-Myers was really good, especially towards the end. Excellent acting by him

The movie also alludes to different popular novels, among others Crime & Punishment and American Tradegy. Those who read them should like the allusions.

The movie is not the best of the year, but it is another good flick by Allen. His strength once again lies in the screenplay which (while not quirky or funny unlike most of his work) is definitely one of the year's very best. Masterfully written dialogues and that ending...wow. If it wasn't for the slow (and somewhat boring) first half that was rather busy with a depiction of London's high society, I would have rated it quite a bit higher.

Don't be suprised.

I loved it.

I'll write something more in a bit, but in a nutshell - it's nothing like Fatal Attraction and it's got a pessimistic tone that'll leave you down (this definitely isn't a night movie ). Direction and acting is top-notch. The movie has few flow problems, but the end is worth it.

I think it's the best drama of the year, but I change my mind a lot...

Random thoughts (not a formal review):

I saw this again tonight - and it really held up. A lot more lines I found funnier and tongue-in-cheek the second time. And loved the play of words! The best screenplay of 2005. The connection with luck, the tennis ball, and the wedding band is definitely intelligent. The dialogue with Chris, the elderly neighbor, and Nola towards the end (and the subsequent reveal) is still my favorite scene.

Some lines that the audience LOL'ed:

"He seems shellshocked!" - Eleanor Hewett to Chris Wilton

"You're not that good of an actress!" - Chris to Nola

A lot of people criticized Johanson's performance but I thought her acting was pretty strong, and the crowd I saw the movie with were really shocked at the turn of events near the final act.

Well Scarlett IS playing a bad actress, so could that be the case? Hehe.

A!

I still think Jonathan Rhys-Myers was better than Johansson, quite a bit.

I agree that the screenplay is one of the year's five best, at least. Barely any other movie this year could bring its point home as well as this one (the ring!!!).

Good movie but I think Woody Allen did a copy job of past David Mamet work > even the words seems out of a Mamet play.

***********************

I am glad that the movie took a different path because in the first 10 minutes, I was wondering if it was a set-up as everything seemed planned that he was studying the favorites of the family > opera, the books he read, his planned stories, etc.

************************

Also seeing the Matador yesterday > anyone who liked this will like that as the movies had a number of similairites except that the lead guy was played by one smoother / one grittier character.

Yes, Rhys-Meyers is actually a thousand times better than Johansson.

Off-topic, now I keep on remembering the restaurant scene when Tom (Matthew Goode) orders baked potato or something and after which he giggly said [britishaccent]yum yum yum![/endbritishaccent]. LOL!

Oh, my. Well, I wasn't expecting this. Match Point is so different from anything Woody Allen has ever done that it would be almost impossible to tell he wrote/directed it if you didn't already know. With that being said, this is easily his strongest film since Crimes and Misdemeanors and is (along with Interiors) probably the best "serious" work he has ever attempted. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is terrific as Chris, who becomes increasingly desperate to cover his tracks with erratic behavior as his affair with Scarlett Johansson's Nola continues. Johansson and Emily Mortimer's Chloe represent both the two women in Chris' life and two different kinds of people. Chloe is both adoring and "safe" but apparently unwilling to question her own true happiness while Nola is alluring but "risky", coming across at various times as both confident and utterly needy. What is so wonderful about Match Point is its gradual, slow burn change from an "ordinary", straightforward drama about wanting what/who you can't have to an increasingly taut, almost frightening psychological thriller. I won't spoil any of the twists and turns presented in this film, but if you think you know how this movie is going to end, you are likely wrong. One of the five best movies of 2005. A

The first 2/3 of the film is pretty contrive. We've all seen this kind of triangle love before. Somehow the girl the guy married with and doesn't love always has the money and fame, while the one he is crazy about has nothing, so he has this dilemma. I didn't feel anything original, and it moved slow. However, the last act really elevated the film and the screenplay. I have to say the trailer was very masterfully done with out of sequence images and dialogs to hide what happened at the end.

As for the performances, I don't think Scarlett did anything spectacular, so the early award talk indeed seemed premature. Meyers stood out more, as he handled all the emotion scenes and showed the character's inner struggle well.

I also love how the background Opera music was used during the last act.

B+

Definitely. Excellent way to raise suspense

Well I agree with the consensus. Slow start with a mostly generic plot that goes beyond that in the second half, it didnt totally make up for the first half, but I mean it's better to end it in a quality note then to start with it and end with crap, brilliant third act. Acting was good, not great, Rhys Meyers was the only really shining star. Johansson's character is a very good character and she had plenty of moments to shine in the role, she sometimes hits the right notes and at others falls flat, she's not really good with emotion, when she was outside's Meyers office when she found out he wasnt on vacation she did a very solid job, then when she started breaking down more in scenes to come she was very mediocre, doesnt help that she doesnt have such a great voice, it all comes out very forced at times.

Grade - B

BJs Grade:

A-

great watch

I believe Yoshue has this sitting on a top ten list, no?

Anyone else seen it? (Only expanded like, 200 theaters or something? )

I watched it. It's still floating around my head. I'd like to hear more thoughts though...[s]loyal, [/s] ok, not him, but someone else watched it (i saw it somewhere.) Post people. Please. :O

Hm.

Check out the thread in the Indie forum...

But, all you really need to know is: Match Point > your mom's chicken alfredo

I wish that weren't true. Oh how I love chicken alfredo. Unfortunately, I'm afraid my mom doesn't cook it much (ever.). :O

As for the movie, I really am struggling on what to say, still. I'll go read your indiez thread, I guess. :k

Alright, well, I still am not too clear, so forgive the randomness, but...

Spoilers, of course.

.,.
\-/

I'm pretty sure I loved it. It's far different than I'd expected. I pretty much knew everything that was supposed to happen and such, but it still took me for somewhat of a ride. Especially with the ending... I knew about a murder towards the end, but for some reason I'd thought Scarlet's character was the 'derer, not the 'deree. I also didn't realize that she'd broken up with the bro-in-law when most of the heavy adulterous stuff went down. (Though I should have figured as much...wouldn't make a lotta sense to have her so into getting the guy when she's still with her guy, yknow?)

So I guess it was just different than I thought.

That said, I think it was better this way. Felt almost...choppy, or messy...maybe it's one of those things where the sum is greater than the parts.

Hm. I think the two couples had generally bad chemestry together, but worked fantastically with the supporters.

Someone mentioned in that other thread that it's not like Woody's other films because it's the what rather than the who..."plot driven", I think. Bingo...from the start I felt that - it doesn't feel like anything I've seen by him because these characters are secondary to the situations they find themselves in. BUT...I don't think that's a bad thing, OR that he had to sacrifice the character development to get there. In fact, it's probably one of my favorite films by him because it has the best of both worlds...a great story AND great characters. Nola and Chris were two of my favorite characters of the year...I loved the transition Nola makes from when she's with the tall guy, to when he dumps her. I loved how torn Chris is between the "safe" and the "passion". I dunno...I just thought the characters were all very strong, certainly not one dimensional.

I LOVED the opening and closing credits. And the score.

Oh, I'm kinda sick of "ghosts" in nonghost stories. Yknow...character looks up and long dead exhusband is standing there...I just saw it recently in another film, Kings and Queen I believe, so maybe it's just too much in a short span...

Anyway...I'll probably be back periodically to comment further, because I forgot a bunch of stuff as I was typing this. :o

What "ghost?"

[spoil]If you're talking about Chris talking to Nola and the old lady neighbor, that was from a dream by the detective. So the ghosts didn't really exist in the same universe as Chris Wilton walks in.[/spoil]

Um.

Are you sure? I don't think so.

[spoil]I could be misremembering, but doesn't he wake up from his computer and walk into the kitchen, where all that happens? Why should we think that's anything other than reality?[/spoil]

lol, mine wasn't even a spoiler really. oh well.

That's just one of the interpretations. I think it was seen by Chris, though (as he was hallucinating). I think the detective waking up make it seem as if he was dreaming it, but I do not think he was...

If anything, Lecter's interpretation that Chris might have been hallucinating would have been more apt. He WAS working late at night, lol.

I liked Chris' response to the old lady. Cold.

heh. well, obviously I don't think he was fully conscious (not conscious, but, uh...yknow "all there") I mean...I don't think they were *really* ghosts. I dunno. :O

hm.

kypade


[spoil]i dunno i just wanted to type your name [/spoil]