Match Point

[jilly]

Ultimately, she is a much more sympathetic character than Chris, but for whatever reason, I wanted him to get away with it (in the traditional sense of not getting caught - the movie made it pretty clear that he will be paying for his crimes for the rest of his life).

I felt the opposite. I thought JRM character was interesting, but the stereotypical sociopath. He married someone he didn't love for money. He tries to initiate an affair with his future brother-in-laws then fiancee without a qualm. He is mad about her until she becomes inconvenient. Then he coldly does away with her, as well as an innocent bystander. I did want him to get caught. I didn't get the impression that he felt any guilt at all over his crime, which par for the course with a sociopath. I guess the ending illustrated how great a role luck can play in a person's life. If the junkie/theif had not picked up the ring, he would have lost everything.

It was an interesting movie, but I'm glad I rented it instead of seeing it in the theater.

[Deleted]

I thought the scene between Chris and the "ghosts" of the people he has killed indicated that he would be haunted by what he had done. I also thought his expression at the end of the film - when he does have everything he wants and is no longer in any danger of getting caught is so bleak. There is no triumph or anything at getting away with murder but I didn't see a blankness or lack of feeling there. It was like (to me) he finally realized that the life he had killed for was going to be empty and unfufilling on a very deep and personal level.

Although, thinking about it, Chris pretty much was a stereotpyical sociopath. If I had cottoned on to that immediately (instead of.... now) it might have made me think differently about the film and the character of Chris.

[kanding]

I'm fascinated by Chloe of all people. There's no doubt she's sweet. She seems to love and be loved by just about everyone in the film. But is she supposed to be annoying also? Is the fact that she is so set on having babies supposed to show us how worthy she is as a person and a wife or to hint at the trap that Chris has married into?

I wasn't to impressed with either ScarJo or JRM's performances. They both seemed stiff. The only time he seemed believable was when he was in Nola's neighbor's apartment, preparing to solve his problems.

[foxfair]

I'm fascinated by Chloe of all people. There's no doubt she's sweet. She seems to love and be loved by just about everyone in the film. But is she supposed to be annoying also? Is the fact that she is so set on having babies supposed to show us how worthy she is as a person and a wife or to hint at the trap that Chris has married into?

ITA. I was most interested in Chloe's character, she had more depth than any of the others. I can't decide if Allen meant her to be sympathetic or not. In some way I think that consciously, he didn't. She's portrayed as this neurotic temperature-taker, desperate for babies and living in her weird little Posh World where everything is happy-fun (I am thinking of the scene in the restaurant when she's behaving like a posh dimwit) and I get the feeling she's intended to be the opposite of Nola, who up until the pregnancy is a male fantasy of Teh Sex. I think we're supposed to think of her as empty and silly. I just found myself sympathizing with her character a little. I mean, she's naive and dumb and posh, but wanting to have a baby with the man you love isn't so bad, nor is wanting a good relationship with him or just happiness in general, even if it's in your wealthy hothouse.

I dunno, I think she was not meant to be sympathetic, but to me she was.

[Deleted]

I finally saw this on DVD the other night and I have to admit I liked it even though I generally end up hating Woody Allen movies. I guess the fact that Woody wasn't in it and it was a little atypical for him helped. I hated the tinny opera soundtrack though. I found it jarring and discordant with the theme of the film, not to mention that it reminded me of The Talented Mr. Ripley, as did Chris.

I wasn't to impressed with either ScarJo or JRM's performances. They both seemed stiff. The only time he seemed believable was when he was in Nola's neighbor's apartment, preparing to solve his problems.

I agree with this completely. I can't remember if I posted this here or in the Allen thread, but the E! channel was constantly running a clip of this premiere recently and Allen said something like he hires good actors and lets them do their work and he doesn't get too involved unless he needs to. I think SarJo needed him to get past her obvious beauty and other assets and take her performance to the next level. JRM was beyond help as far as I'm concerned. I kept wondering why anyone would be so devoted to him. He seemed so boring and unintriguing. At the beginning he sounded like he was reading his lines off a cue card for the first time.

As far as Chloe, I don't think Allen meant for her to be sympathetic (because I think he fundamentally does not trust or like women), but I found her to be. I can hardly fault her for going for the things she wants if her husband won't tell her the truth about anything. He takes the job, he proposes, he marries her, what is she supposed to think? And Emily Mortimer played her perfectly.

I didn't know about the murders before I saw it and I didn't exactly see it coming. I also agree with those of you that saw him as a sociopath -- the ghosts were a one time thing for him. I thought the way he talked to them indicated that he put them to bed.

I don't know if I completely buy that he would get away with it. His tennis friend and Nola's (sp?) co-worker would have both been compelling witnesses against him. The dead guy with the ring was never investigated as to his whereabouts at the time of the murders.

[gimmeshelter]

After seeing this today, I intially felt for the female characters, too. Nola struck me as a scared woman struggling to define herself on her own terms. All of her life she has only been liked for her looks. I think she thought Chris saw something more in her. She wanted to better herself, too but didn't know how. Nor she did want to do it in a callous or immoral way.

Chloe simply wanted respect from her husband. Absolutely nothing wrong in that. She attempted to fix the situation and communicate with him.

I found Tom to be indifferent and disrespectful in his own way. Like Chris, he saw women as pretty things. The way he dumped Nola was cruel, also. Nola hinted at his true character when he asked her for an abortion. Despite his good guy demeanor, he was as cold and calcuating underneath as Chris.

[Wol]

Hated it. Now that Woody knows he's never going to be the next Fellini or Bergman he's shooting for the next Adrian Lyne. And he's failing at that, too. And if "A Place in the Sun" was an inspiration for him, he couldn't match half of that film's genius.

I will say Woody amuses me. I find it hilarous that he thinks his life is so fascinating that it will make great drama. So he cheats on his S.O. with her adopted underage daughter, still has a career and a mighty nice life, and decides to write a piece about a sociopath with unbelievable good luck? Hilarious. But he's right - he does have unbelievable luck. That any film critics actually praised this crap, let alone heralded the film as the arrival of Woody's late master Blue Period genius, is solid proof of that.