Absolutely the worst movie.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Say what you want about Woody Allen, the guy makes some good films. He makes some bad films too. Heck, he's made a movie every year for the last four decades, there's bound to be one or two stinkers in there. But Match Point, for my money, is his best yet.It's just so different. It is his most different work from anything else he has done and, unlike his other films, it is not immediately identifiable as A Woody Allen film, if not for his name in the credits. That's a good thing by the way. Different is good.But moreover, it's different from anything I've ever seen before or since. Not so different that it feels TOO different. It's still very fun, unpredictable, and keeps you on the edge of your seat right up until the end, and then sends you home with a an ear-to-ear grin on your face. See it if you haven't yet. Tell your friends to see it. It's very good.

Just finished watching this, and the plot gripped me all the way through from beginning to end. Sure there were things to dislike, the not-always accurate British accents, the at-times cheesy dialogue, with slightly too long stares into nothingness, but so much more to like! Matthew Goode and Emily Mortimer play very believable upper-class English characters, and the dialogue flows so naturally, you'd believe you were sitting right in the room with them and their family, listening to their conversations.In my opinion Woody Allen does a great job in making use of the theme of luck, mixed in with some tennis, offering a surprising twist at the end that might have you reconsidering the effect of luck on your own life afterwards. Despite a few minor flaws, a very enjoyable watch! 8/10

ALLEN ENTERS NEW TERRITORY WITH "MATCH POINT"Viewed at 2005 San Sebastian Film Festival featuring centenary homage to Alfred Hitchcock. Though there were no films by Hitchcock on view, several films are in a way a homage to the master. "Match Point", the latest from Woody Allen is a vast departure from his usual form and is, in effect, a Hitchcockian suspense thriller filmed in London no less, with an entirely English cast except for a smashingly sexy Scarlett Johansson in a most uncharacteristic vamp role, as the sole American presence – (and what a presence she is!). At a turning point in his life, an unscrupulous social climbing former tennis pro falls for a scrumptuous femme-fatal type (Scarlett Jo) who happens to be dating his new best friend and soon-to-be brother-in-law. Her blatant irresistibility forces him to tread a skittery fine line between acceptance or expulsion from the high society he has edged his way into -- like a tennis ball teetering on top of the net at a decisive win-or-lose "match point". Also the metaphor for which way the evidence will fall when he is a suspect in Scarlett's shocking but necessary murder. Young Scarlett really sets the celluloid aflame in this stylish shot out of Mr. Konigsberg's Twilight Zone, with sensitive support from Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the freaked-out lover-killer who in the end will go unpunished. Woody has strayed from comedy before with mixed results but this no-nonsense edge of the seat entry into typical Hitchcockian territory demonstrates his versatility as nothing before. The tennis background is perfectly employed to a breath-taking conclusion where a tennis ball teeters momentarily on the top of the net and can fall either way. Johansson, moreover, pulls out all the stops and shows she can act as well as just look gorgeous — and sexier than ever as a scheming heartless femme fatale. Hats off to both Woody and Scarlett for a perfectly realized neo Film Noir. Alfred would have loved it!An extra dessert for Opera fans; Since both leading men are opera lovers the musical score is made up entirely of opera excerpts with remastered Caruso recordings and oodles of Verdi arias commenting subtly on the proceedings of this amoral operatic film noir masterpiece.

Match Point isn't a wholly original Woody Allen movie, building on similar ground covered in Crimes and Misdemeanors (just without the comedy subplot and Bergmanesque philosophizing), but it's definitely one of Woody's better films in his recent output, and certainly the best of his European movies. The chemistry between Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys Meyers is excellent, as is rest of the acting. The themes of luck, infidelity and morality are well implemented into the plot here and aren't as forced as some of Allen's other dramas.My only complaint is that some of the dialog feels very expository and just for the sake of forwarding the plot and setting up the next scene, whereas other Woody Allen movies hide this better behind witty, conversational dialog.But it's good to see a seasoned Director do something different, and succeed in most regards.