For the first time in his long career, writer-director Woody Allen takes his cast and crew to London, and the European location breathes new life into the normally Manhattan-centric auteur. Jonathan Rhys Meyers stars as Chris Wilton, a former pro on the world tennis circuit who now has his eyes set on a very different kind of prize. After meeting Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) at an exclusive club, he becomes friendly with Tom's extremely wealthy family, including his powerful businessman father, Alec (Brian Cox) and his attractive sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who is desperate to get married and have children. The only problem is that Chris has fallen hard and fast for Tom's fiancée, the steaming-hot Nola (Scarlett Johansson), an unsuccessful American actress from Colorado who just might share Chris's lustful feelings--a romantic entanglement that could get in the way of his master plan. As he does with his New York-set films, Allen includes many London landmarks, including the Tate Modern, the Royal Opera House, the Queen's Club, St. James Park, the Millennium Bridge, the Palace Theatre, and the so-called Gherkin building, with its marvelous views of the city. He gets splendid performances from his actors, especially Rhys Meyers, who plays Chris with an intense glower, and Johansson, who is brilliant as the sexy, confident femme fatale. Allen is also inspired by Alfred Hitchcock, with several references and homages to the work of the great British director. The soundtrack features songs from LA TRAVIATA, RIGOLETTO, OTELLO, MACBETH, SALVATOR ROSA, IL TROVATORE, and other operas, primarily sung by Enrico Caruso.
Theatrical Release: December 28, 2005
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Single Side - Dual Layer
Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono - English
Subtitles - English (SDH), English, French, Spanish - Optional
Stars
Jonathan Rhys-Myers:
Scarlett Johansson: Actress,
Emily Mortimer: Actress
Matthew Goode: Star, CHASING LIBERTY (2003)
Brian Cox: British Actor, L.I.E. (2000)
Penelope Wilton: British film & television actress, SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Paul Kaye: Actor, IT'S ALL GONE PETE TONG (2005)
Anthony O'Donnell:
John Fortune:
Rupert Penry-Jones: Actor, CHARLOTTE GRAY (2001)
Margaret Tyzack: British Character Actress
Scott Handy: Actor
Selina Cadell: Actor, THE RIVALS (2004)
Colin Salmon: Narrator, EMPIRES - HOLY WARRIORS (2005)
Steve Pemberton:
Ewen Bremner:
James Nesbitt:
Director
Woody Allen: Actor/screenwriter/director
Producer
Lucy Darwin: Producer, LOST IN LA MANCHA (2003)
Helen Robin: Producer
Gareth Wiley: MATCH POINT (2005)
Screenwriter
Woody Allen: Actor/screenwriter/director
Composer
Gaetano Donizetti: Opera composer
Andrew Lloyd Webber: British Theatrical Composer, CATS
Gioacchino Rossini: Italian Composer
Giuseppe Verdi: Italian Composer, 19th Century
Editor
Alisa Lepselter: Editor
Casting
Juliet Taylor: Casting (Woody Allen)/Producer "Big"
Costume Designer
Jill Taylor:
Director of Photography
Remi Adefarasin: Director of Photography
Executive Producer
Letty Aronson: Executive Producer
Executive Producer
Stephen Tenenbaum: Executive Producer, ANYTHING ELSE (2003)
Production Designer
Jim Clay: Production Designer
Source Composer
Georges Bizet: French Composer\D. 1875
Review 1:
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[Allen] writes and directs with a bristling newfound energy....It's been a long time since a Woody Allen film sparked juicy debate. Savor it."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.162 12/15/2005
Review 2:
"[A]n often riveting drama set in London amid the lives of the rich and cultured -- highlighted by an operatic score. And it's proof that Allen, who many have dismissed with his last few forgettable films, is still a filmmaking force."
Source: USA Today
p.1D 12/28/2005
Review 3:
"It pretty much keeps its pulse steady, its blood cold and its nerves tamped down -- which, combined with cinematographer Remi Adefarasin's architectural Hitchcockian flourishes, lends a queasy, cool air to the proceedings."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.E1 12/28/2005
Review 4:
"[Johansson] is the film's most compelling, vivid presence. Like Samantha Morton in SWEET AND LOWDOWN, she makes all of her scenes her own."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.63-64 01/01/2006
Review 5:
Included in Entertainment Weekly's Top Ten Films Of The Year -- "MATCH POINT is a fiendishly clever and sophisticated entertainment driven by lust, murder, and the swinging hinge of fate."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.117 12/30/2005
Review 6:
"Woody Allen's best in years....Ice cold and pitch black..."
Source: New York Times
p.E26 01/06/2006
Review 7:
"MATCH POINT, a meditation on crime and luck, has the design -- the formal elegance -- of a thriller, yet it has been made with a sublime eye for why people do what they do that marks it as Allen's finest movie since MANHATTAN." -- Grade: A
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.48 01/20/2006
Review 8:
"It's heart-poundingly tense, genuinely erotic and philosophically brutal in its closing pronouncement..."
Source: Uncut
p.96 02/01/2006
Review 9:
"[A]n unexpectedly gripping adultery thriller?that boasts last year's most electric sparks between costars..."
Source: Movieline's Hollywood Life
p.107 03/01/2006
Review 10:
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]here's a refreshing vigour and willingness to experiment here we haven't seen since HUSBANDS AND WIVES."
Source: Total Film
p.116 06/01/2006
Review 11:
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "Jonathan Rhys Meyers is sensational....It serves its dish of bitter nihilism with a lovely touch of European elan."
Source: Premiere
p.99 06/01/2006