I See Why Woody Left New York

Man, what a good night! I finally got around to seeing Woody Allen's Match Point, which was released in 2005. I love this film so much because it has so much drama and tension in it. I admit that I was bored for about the first 20 minutes. Plus I did not feel like seeing a British movie last night. Well, technically it was not a British movie. but it's still set in Britain with mostly British characters. Hmm..I guess that does make it a British movie. IDK!

Anyway the plot involves an former Irish tennis pro named Chris (Jonathan Rhys Myers) who move is struggling with money issues right now and moves to London. He gets a job as a tennis instructor at a London country club. He meets Tom (Matthew Goode), who is one of his students. Tom takes an immediate liking to him since they share a lot in common including Opera. next we meet Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who falls in love with Chris and the feeling seems to be mutual. Did I also mention that Tom and Chloe's parents are filthy rich and Chloe immediately gets her father to find Chris a good paying job. Nice.

Then Chris meets Nola (the beautiful Scarlett Johansson) who is a struggling American actress and Tom's finance. Chris wants Nola, but Nola is engaged to Tom. However, Nola takes an interest in Chris too. From then on the film speeds through with intense drama with some shocking surprises along the way.

The main theme of this movie is luck. This is shown in the first few minutes of the movie when Chris narrates that he would rather be lucky than good. Then we see a tennis ball hitting the tip of net and from there it can be luck if it lands in the other player's side. Or if it lands on your side and you're shit out of luck. Sometimes Chris gets lucky in the movie and sometimes he's boned.

I believe that this is the first time that Woody left his precious New York and do a film outside the country. I believe that this is because he had become box office poison during the late 1990's. In fact before this his last great film was Deconstructing Harry. This is not your typical Woody Allen movie at all. The only reason I knew it is his film is because I read movie reviews. Movie ads don't even feature his name anymore. Foreign audiences love Woody Allen and he is still bankable overseas. After Match Point he made Scoop and Cassandra's Dream, which also take place in London. He went to Spain fore Vicky Cristina Barcelona and then he returned to New York for the underrated Whatever Works. Now he is back to Europe again with You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger (weird title). Then he is filming a movie in Paris.

I read in an interview that he considers Match Point to be his best film. I highly disagree with that as I can find five better films than Match Point. However, after years of duds it is a return to form and Allen is getting back on track again. Now I am tempted to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona and can't wait for Tall Dark Stranger to come out later this year. Oh and I saw Anything Else (another Allen flix), which I will discuss later. Believe me, I will have much to discuss for that recycled hodgepodge of a film.