{"id":13274,"date":"2006-05-04T16:43:35","date_gmt":"2006-05-04T20:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=13274"},"modified":"2006-05-04T16:43:35","modified_gmt":"2006-05-04T20:43:35","slug":"match-point-2005","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2006\/05\/04\/match-point-2005\/","title":{"rendered":"Match Point (2005)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Match_Point-(7)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I wish I can say that Woody Allen\u2019s venture in to new territory was great\u2014had he actually explored new territory, mind you. And I wish I could proclaim this a giant rip-off of Allen\u2019s style, had Allen not directed it. Fact is, though, Allen\u2019s involvement in the film doesn\u2019t deter the idea that \u201cMatch Point\u201d feels like imitation Woody Allen. It\u2019s often been described as \u201cthe serious sub-plot of \u201cCrimes and Misdemeanors\u201d extended in to a film\u201d, and that\u2019s an apt description. However, when all is said and done, I\u2019d describe this as a remake of “Crimes and MisDemeanors” with footnotes of \u201cA Place in the Sun\u201d thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Young desperate man gets in to a relationship, finds himself in another better relationship, he finds the previous relationship is weighing down on him, he disposes of the situation through violent methods, and finds he\u2019s having trouble sealing it up nice and tight. More appropriately though, Allen\u2019s film is a combination of both. It’s a regurgitation and a recycling. I\u2019ve become ensconced and elated with Allen\u2019s writing over the last few years, and the man has a knack not only for human action, but with human dialogue. \u201cMatch Point\u201d is clearly the exception to the rule. As much as it pains me to say, as much as I was looking forward to this, Allen\u2019s first foray into a different territory is a sad state of affairs. His writing in particularly is always rather shrewd. We can never be sure if he attempts to pose his characters as smooth and stylish, or if he\u2019s trying to have them force themselves to be smooth and stylish, but Allen\u2019s writing is forced regardless.<\/p>\n

I found the writing was often incredibly hackneyed and put upon the audience as if he expected us to believe people like this could behave in such a manner. Allen\u2019s dialogue always feels so smooth, fluid, and realistic, but here it felt like he was forcing the characters in to this often awkward dialogue with truly forced drama that was never genuine. Should we care about what happens with rich people? Not really. \u201cCrimes and Misdemeanors\u201d examined common people committing cruel atrocities against each other, but here it\u2019s simply an episode of \u201cThe OC\u201d set in the UK. It\u2019s all simply Allen\u2019s mystery sans the tension and freeze-dried and re-packaged to look like an actual original idea. But the film alone is utterly self-indulgent with smug acting, unlikable characters, and no essence of the director. The film is soulless, thus Allen shows himself to be soulless. If that doesn\u2019t make things even worse, Johannsen\u2019s performance is sadly the worst of the film.<\/p>\n

Johannsen\u2019s acting is based on highs and lows, and here she\u2019s at her all time low. With a seasoned cast, and complex character, she can never keep up. Her performance is wooden, and her delivery of her dialogue is unconvincing. What was he thinking casting her in the first place? Is she sexy? Hell yeah, but I also know of sexy actresses whom could have pulled in a very good performance. We never sympathize for her, and her character motivations are just confusing and lackluster. The film as a whole never feels as if Allen is committing, and \u201cMatch Point\u201d is a half-hearted effort. Allen\u2019s experiment in to a new locale is well-intentioned, but ultimately very misguided. \u201cMatch Point\u201d, in spite of some good performances by Meyers and Mortimer, is really just a limp, dull, and contrived rehash of \u201cCrimes and MisDemeanors\u201d with a wretched performance by Johannsen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wish I can say that Woody Allen\u2019s venture in to new territory was great\u2014had he actually explored new territory, mind you. And I wish I could proclaim this a giant rip-off of Allen\u2019s style, had Allen not directed it. Fact is, though, Allen\u2019s involvement in the film doesn\u2019t deter the idea that \u201cMatch Point\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[240,259,302,617,703,874,1087,1201],"class_list":["post-13274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-crime","tag-dark-comedy","tag-drama","tag-m","tag-mystery","tag-romance","tag-thriller","tag-woody-allen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}