Match Point

After Woody Allen's disgrace in the '90s, leaving his wife for his stepdaughter, I stopped watching his movies. Not really a boycott, but I just really was turned off by the idea of him doing his nebbishy shtick on film and trying to find it funny. But it's been several years since then that I was open to watching his movies and just...didn't. But I finally rented one a month ago. I can't even remember the name, but it was the latest one on video, where Scarlett Johannsen and Woody team up in London to try to solve a murder at the behest of the deceased journalist Ian MacShane. It was a nice bit of fluff and I found the Woodman could still make me laugh. I still chuckle at this one exchange, where ScarJo complains of an upset stomach from the Indian restaurant they had just left, and Woody said, "But you hardly even touched your cobra salad!" Cobra salad sounds great together, like a band name.

Anyway, I do really like Scarlett, like most guys do, so I got their first pairing together, Match Point, a couple weeks ago and finally watched that last night and tonight. I know it's kind of a remake of Crimes & Misdemeanors with prettier people, but hell, remaking triumphs worked well enough for guys like Howard Hawks. Plus, I haven't seen C&D in over a decade, so I found Match Point really, really good. Even though you've kind of seen it before--guy steps out on prissy/dowdy/stifling/sweet wife for a hot chick and then runs the risk of losing his whole lifestyle--but Allen directs it beautifully. There's no comedy at all, just tension and eroticism and tension and great London locations. Reading about it on IMDB later, I now know there are a few goofs that Allen could've spared the film had he consulted a real Londoner, but there's nothing very noticeable. I especially liked the first flirtation scene with Johannsen and Jonathan Rhys Myers where it's lit in such a way that you see all the flaws in their skin, and yet they're both still extremely attractive, maybe moreso. Their first love scene in the rainswept field is excellent--I didn't know Allen had it in him, this sensuality. Top performances from the leads, though I confess I'd hoped Brian Cox as the father-in-law would have more to do--I thought maybe he would suspect Rhys Myers at some point. Very exciting, cynical ending, and one doesn't often put those two adjectives together.