Match Point review

Another year, another Woody Allen movie. Except this one is very different from his typical fare. Not only has Allen abandoned his beloved New York to make his first film in Britan, but he's also forsworn his usual angst riddled comedies in favour of a taut thriller. The shift is a successful one, with Match Point being an absorbing examination of luck and how it plays a critical part of people's lives.

"I think everybody's afraid to admit what a big part luck is," reflects Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers). Once a promising tennis pro with aspirations to "do something with life" Wilton, through a series of murderous events, becomes all too aware of luck's role.

Save for the intellectual adornments that many of Allen's characters seem to favour - a passion for opera and Dostoevsky - and the usual black and white title sequence, there is precious little to identify this as an Allen movie. There's no acting role for the director or even anyone doing an impression of him á la Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity. Instead he has populated it with predominantly young actors who are cursed with beauty rather than neuroses.

Having quit the tennis circuit, Chris reluctantly coaches while contemplating how to "make a contribution." When he the teaches the charming toff Tom Hewitt (Matthew Goode), he finds himself not only introduced to a world of wealth and privilege, but also to Tom's sister Chloe (Emily Mortimer). The sweet and innocent Chloe is struck by the handsome guest and, encouraged by her parents (Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton), the two quickly become an item. But for Chris, the union appears to be as much to do with the opportunity of a good job with her father's company as it his feelings for Chloe.

Only when he meets Tom's seductive American girlfriend Nola (Scarlett Johansson) are his true passions aroused. The two share an illicit tryst before Nola breaks contact only for their affair to be reignited later after a chance meeting following her split with Tom. Knowing discovery of his infidelity would be ruinous, Chris takes action, which is where the vagaries of fate come in.

Match Point features strong performances all round. Rhys Meyers projects perfectly Wilton's agitated opportunism while Johansson oozes sensuality and insecurity as the struggling actress Nola. Mortimer is all doe eyed naivety as the insipid Chloe and Goode plays Tom as a slightly less camp Rupert Everett. There's little to like about the central characters. Without the sheen of humour to deflect from their flaws, Allen offers them few endearing qualities. To see what fortune befalls such a whiny bunch is part of Match Point's appeal.

Kevin Murphy