♥♥♥♥
+ Best London Movie of the Year
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| The still of what appears a moment of genuine romantic feeling is contrasted eerily with the ominous tagline in the bottom of this poster for Woody Allen's Match Point; 'There are no little secrets.' |
An ex-tennis pro falls for an alluring woman who is the girlfriend of his friend, who is soon to be his brother-in-law, as he is on the cusp of entering a wealthy English family.
Match Point is written and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker Woody Allen (Sleeper (1973)), whose 35th feature it is. I can't but feel it as a basically rather trite concept adult picture with the core theme being, 'luck'. Still Match Point is a captivating and good film, which impresses with a well-integrated opera element, a strong ending and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Elvis (2005, miniseries)) giving an equally strong protagonist performance.
This is a fine sidestep for Allen, both in terms of genre (drama-thriller) and location, (it is his first film shot abroad), and the ease with which he succeeds is admirable, - but I as an Allen fan miss some of his personality (not least his humor) in the film.
Related posts:
Woody Allen: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess
Café Society (2016) - The greatest living American filmmaker hands us another splendid gem
Irrational Man (2015) - Allen's pleasant morality tale divertisement
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
Magic in the Moonlight (2014) - Allen's irresistible French Riviera romance
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2013 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Blue Jasmine (2013) - Allen presenets Blanchett, a woman under the influence
Fading Gigolo (2013) - Turturro's pleasant turn as a high-end NY prostitute (as actor)
To Rome with Love (2012) - Woody Allen's slightest film to date
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Midnight in Paris (2011) - Allen's zany (and a little depressing) crowd-pleaser
Cassandra's Dream (2007) - Allen's well-laid but inconsequentiel English cul-de-sac
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Anything Else (2003) - Perfect contemporary relationship comedy
The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) - Allen's hypnotic, noirish shenanigans
Celebrity (1998) or, Stars in New York
Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) - Sin and guilt up for laughs and rumination in unspectacular Allen work
Broadyway Danny Rose (1984) or, Keep Your Heart
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Annie Hall (1977) or, My Relationship with Alvie Singer
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) (1972) - Allen's curious sex comedy is a riot
Bananas (1971) - Woody Allen's South American misadventure is still a barrel of laughs
Casino Royale (1967) - The packed spy spoof frontrunner, a film very much of its time (as actor)
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 85.3 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 5.68 times its cost)
[Match Point premiered 12 May (Cannes Film Festival, France) and runs 124 minutes. When Allen could not find funding for the film in New York, where he had set it in The Hamptons, he found it in the UK with the BBC and rewrote to accommodate the new location. Kate Winslet was cast but dropped out, and her character had to be rewritten as an American, for Scarlett Johansson (Rough Night (2017)). Shooting took place in the UK, including London, from June - August 2004. The film opened #21 to a 398k $ first weekend in 8 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 and in 509 theaters (different weeks), grossing 23.1 mil. $ (27.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Italy with 10.7 mil. $ (12.5 %) and France with 10.2 mil. $ (12 %). The film was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, losing to Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco for Crash. It was also nominated for 4 Golden Globes, a César award, won a David di Donatello award, a Goya award, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to 2 notches higher than this one. Allen has said of the film: "arguably may be the best film that I've made. This is strictly accidental, it just happened to come out right. You know, I try to make them all good, but some come out and some don't. With this one everything seemed to come out right. The actors fell in, the photography fell in and the story clicked. I caught a lot of breaks!" He returned with Scoop (2006), also starring Johansson. Meyers returned in Mission: Impossible III (2006); Johansson in The Island (2005). Match Point is certified fresh at 76 % with a 7.15/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Match Point?
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