Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12909 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-05-08
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 119 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

Synopsis
For the first time in his long career, writer-director Woody Allen takes his cast and crew to London, and the European location breathes new life into the normally Manhattan-centric auteur. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Chris Wilton, a former pro on the world tennis circuit, with eyes set on a very different kind of prize. After meeting Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) at an exclusive club, he becomes friendly with Tom's extremely wealthy family, including his powerful businessman father, Alec (Brian Cox) and his attractive sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who is desperate to get married and have children. The only problem is that Chris has fallen hard and fast for Tom's fiancee, the steaming-hot Nola (Scarlett Johansson), an unsuccessful American actress from Colorado who just might share Chris's lustful feelings, a romantic entanglement that could get in the way of his master plan. As he does with his New York-set films, Allen includes many London landmarks, including the Tate Modern, the Royal Opera House, the Queen's Club, St. James Park, the Millennium Bridge, the Palace Theatre, and the so-called Gherkin building, with its marvellous views of the city. He gets splendid performances from his actors, especially Rhys Meyers, who plays Chris with an intense glower, and Johansson, who is brilliant as the sexy, confident femme fatale. Allen is also inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, with several references and homages to the work of the great British director. The soundtrack features songs from LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, OTELLO, MACBETH, SALVATOR ROSA, IL TROVATORE, and other operas, primarily sung by Enrico Caruso.

Customer Reviews

Rather Be Lucky Than Good
Christopher "Chris" Wilton: "The man who said "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life. People are often afraid to realize how much of an impact plays luck. There are moments in a tennis match where the ball hits the top of the net, and for a split second, remains in mid-air. With a little luck, the ball goes over, and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose."

Woody Allen has given us a film that is full of life messages and meanings and reveals the huge part luck plays in events, giving us the sense that we have less control in our lives than we think. All of the thinking and planning and wondering does us naught, "Luck is the lady tonight".

A one-time tennis pro, Chris Wilton, played by Jonathan Rhys-Meyers was used to not finding success in his life. But when he teaches tennis to and become friends with Tom Hewett, played by Matthew Goode and marries his sister, Chloe, Emily Mortimer, he sees that money and success are his for the asking. Chris not used to getting what he wants, ever, finds that he is obsessed with Nola, Scarlett Johansson, Tom's fiancée. They have an affair. Chris and his wife are trying to have a child, and it is not working, but he does impregnate Nola and then the trouble begins. Nola comes up dead as does her neighbor. Could Chris be responsible, has his luck run out? Will Chloe become pregnant? Will life become a fairy tale for Chris and Chloe?

The film has an unusual soundtrack consisting almost entirely of pre-World War One 78 rpm recordings of opera arias sung by Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Opera fans have noted that the arias and opera extracts make for interesting inter- actions with the roles and characters in movies.. The Caruso arias are cut from performances which the characters attend over the course of the film. There are scenes at the Royal Opera House and elsewhere performed by opera singers, accompanied by a piano and not, as is usual, by an orchestra. Arias and extracts include work by Verdi, Otello and Rigoletto, Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, Bizet's I Pescatori di perl, Carlos Gomes' Salvatore Rosa and Gioachino Rossini's Guillaume Tell. This is a Woody Allen scheme for a modern day film of sex and obsession interplaying with one of the oldest opera tenors and on an old 78 rpm recording.

Wonderfully entertaining film. Woody Allen has struck gold and Lady Luck:: good fortune, advantage, big break, blessing, break, fluke, opportunity, profit, prosperity, serendipity, success, triumph, victory, windfall all of this is part of
Life's luck - little control, luck is life's work.

Highly recommended, prisrob 8-25-06

A welcome return to form for Allen.
This wonderful film marks Woody Allen's return to form. His recent output has been rather clumsy and lacking in soul, but this effort redeems him and re-affirms his undoubted talent. The film, ostensibly a love story, turns a deep dark hue when Allen cruelly turns the screw.
The plot centres around a young man (Meyers) torn between the idealism of making something original and worthy out of his life and the security of wealth his fiancé's family can provide. To compound the dilemmas, he is insatiably infatuated with his friend's ex-girlfriend (Johansen). The plot thickens, albeit slowly, in an atmospheric build-up. Meyers portrays the ambitious protagonist with a plummy English accent, trying to mingle convincingly with the upper classes to whose lifestyle he slowly becomes accustomed. (Woody Allen often prefers to play off the aristocratic or at least upper-middle classes, at once plunging the characters into deep and meaningful crises and maintaining a subtle satirical undertone.) Johansen is the seductive femme fatale...or is she? What we know about the characters is not all it appears, and their development as the pace quickens makes for a compelling drama. Johansen is brilliantly convincing in her role, and Meyers expresses all the necessary of ambiguities required of his character, balancing the hero/anti-hero divide. It is untrue, as a previous reviewer alluded, that this is Allen's first venture into a serious drama; although noted widely for his comedy, his Crimes And Misdemeanours, Husbands And Wives, and Interiors are all examples of accomplished drama he has directed.
I found the film to be very well paced; balancing the passion of love against the dark and more sombre atmosphere in the final third of the film is not easy to do, but Allen has done well here too. Be warned: this is neither a film for those seeking another Love Actually, nor is it an action thriller.
What also makes this film so sturdy is that Allen returns to his favourite themes: although it is not made immediately obvious, this film revisits his meditations on love, death, chance, fate, morality and meaning - a cross section of Allen's favourite philosophical struggles. This is all done without pretentiousness, which one must identify as being separate to the pretentiousness and pomposity of some of the characters Allen uses to make his points. What is also very reminiscent of his earlier serious films is the idea of confession and confidence. Meyers' character, overwhelmed at times by the burden of the choices he has made or those facing him, confesses to a friend some of his darkest secrets. This is very well done; we learn about the character's sensibilities, whilst, as is true of any confession, we don't see the whole picture. Another such moment arises towards the end of the film, where Meyers has to justify to himself (and others!) the path in life he chose. On the other hand Johansen's character enjoys no meaningful friendship throughout her difficulties; hers is a different colour of loneliness. If you've seen Crimes And Misdemeanours (which I highly recommend), you'll appreciate this parallel to - and the similarities between the two films don't stop there (I'll let you find the others for yourselves).
It is worth noting that Allen has, perhaps for the first time, set his film in London, which marks a welcome change from New York. Allen does well with it, even casting some familiar British faces (look out for Steve Pemberton, John Fortune (of Bremner, Bird and Fotrune fame), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), James Nesbitt, Selina Cadell (B, B & F also), Penelope Wilton, etc.)
In short, this film is far from trivial, an accomplished drama returning Allen to what he thrives on: love, death, fate and philosophy. It is very well shot, brilliantly acted (particularly by Johansen), and has haunting, atmospheric soundtrack.

In reference to the criticism of this film made by another reviewer that the plot is too fantastical: it's not. All fiction has an element of invention for the purposes of the story, and in my opinion this was carried off well, if not always unpredictably. The remark that the central character's English accent despite his Irish roots is an oversight in research doesn't rise to a level worth commenting on.

On a practical level, as with all Woody Allen films, there are no extras on the DVD (which personally I don't mind).

I recommend this film wholeheartedly! Five stars!

Passion, Temptation, Obsession
Having never seen a Woody Allen movie in my life (i bought this entirely on casting and tv adverts) i watched with anticipation.... and i want disappointed at all. I really liked this film, good plot and excellent casting. Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers have excellent on screen chemistry. The story revolves around an ex tennis pro who starts a new life as a coach and is befriended by Matthew Goode, he is then introduced to Goode's family and girlfriend (Johansson) after which Meyers becomes attached to Goode's sister and later passion erupt between Meyers and Johansson.
A brilliant and gripping plot that kept me on the edge of my seat, i think it will be as sugested by another reviewer like marmite (either love it or hate it) but isnt that true of any film??. My suggestion is watch it. it has totally persuaded me to watch other Woody Allen movies. I hope you enjoy it too.