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 writ...
Clever, very clever, with a nice surprise ending, 2010-08-20
This has one of the neatest bits of stage business you are likely to ever see in a movie. Keep your eye the ball (or ring) as it hits the net, or perhaps a railing. Whether it falls forward or backward can make all the difference in the world.

I can't believe that tennis players say the same thing that poker players say: "I'd rather be lucky than good." Poker players say that because there is a significant element of chance involved in any given hand; and besides they already think they're good. It is the other guy who is lucky.

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers stars as Chris Wilton, a poor Irish boy on the make. He is handsome, charming, smart, and a very good tennis player who is candid about not quite being good enough against the very best. He gets a job teaching tennis at an exclusive English club and quickly meets and charms a very rich student (Matthew Goode as Tom Hewitt) who has a sister (Chole, played by Emily Mortimer) who finds him irresistible.

Well, how lucky can you get? Complication: Scarlett (the sexiest woman on earth, at one time, anyway, according to some magazine) Johansson playing Nola Rice, who is seriously dating the very eligible Tom Hewitt. (You could say she's on the make as well.) She's an American would-be actress who can't quite wow them at the auditions in London. She is sitting pretty however because if she marries Tom she will be set for life.

I could go on, but the plot is so delicious that I don't want to spoil it for you. It's a variation on the venerable theme of rake's progress, employing in an interesting way the old adage, "The man who marries for money earns it." I have only one criticism of this especially well directed effort from the redoubtable Mr. Allen: you could have done without that cheesy ghost or hallucination scene near the end, involving sweet lips Scarlett and her neighbor.

See this for Woody Allen, who is just as smooth with this upscale noir/Hitchcockian thriller as he is with his renowned comedic and satirical efforts. And to think the guy will be 75 in December.