View source for Match Point

{{short description|2005 film by Woody Allen}}
{{Other uses|Match point (disambiguation){{!}}Match point}}
{{good article}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Match Point
| image = Match Point poster.png
| alt =
| caption = UK theatrical release poster
| director = [[Woody Allen]]
| producer = {{Plainlist|
* [[Letty Aronson]]
* [[Gareth Wiley]]
* Lucy Darwin
}}
| writer = Woody Allen
| starring = {{Plainlist|<!-- in the order of the poster -->
* [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]]
* [[Matthew Goode]]
* [[Scarlett Johansson]]
* [[Emily Mortimer]]
* [[Jonathan Rhys Meyers]]
* [[Penelope Wilton]]
}}<!--Please do not change this cast; this is the credit block according to the poster! -->
| cinematography = [[Remi Adefarasin]]
| editing = [[Alisa Lepselter]]
| studio = {{Plainlist|
* [[BBC Films]]
* Thema Production
* Jada Productions
}}
| distributor = {{plainlist|
* [[Icon Film Distribution]] (United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand)
* Cinéart (Benelux)<ref>{{cite web|title=Match Point (2005)|website=[[Lumiere (website)|Lumiere]]|access-date=9 March 2024|url=https://lumiere.obs.coe.int/movie/23740#}}</ref>
* [[DreamWorks Pictures]] (North America)
}}
| released = {{Film date|2005|05|12|[[2005 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|2005|10|28|Luxembourg|2005|12|28|United States|2006|01|06|United Kingdom}}
| runtime = 124 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 123:49--><ref>{{cite web|title=''Match Point'' (12A)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/match-point-2006-3|work=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=6 September 2005|access-date=15 May 2013|archive-date=6 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106205959/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/match-point-2006-3|url-status=live}}</ref>
| country = {{Plainlist|
* United Kingdom<ref name="bfi">{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a8db651 |title=Match Point (2006) |work=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=17 September 2018 |archive-date=17 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917071436/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a8db651 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Luxembourg
* United States
}}
| language = English
| budget = $15 million
| gross = $85.3 million<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=matchpoint.htm |title=''Match Point'' (2005)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=11 November 2010|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701235048/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=matchpoint.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
}}

'''''Match Point''''' is a 2005 [[psychological thriller]] film written and directed by [[Woody Allen]], and starring [[Jonathan Rhys Meyers]], [[Scarlett Johansson]], [[Emily Mortimer]], [[Matthew Goode]], [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]], and [[Penelope Wilton]]. In the film, Rhys Meyers' character, a former professional tennis player, marries into a wealthy family, but his social position is threatened by his affair with his brother-in-law's girlfriend, played by Scarlett Johansson. The film deals with themes of morality and greed, and explores the roles of lust, money, and luck in life, leading many to compare it to Allen's earlier film ''[[Crimes and Misdemeanors]]'' (1989). It was produced and filmed in London after Allen had difficulty finding financial support for the film in New York. The agreement obliged him to make it there using a cast and crew mostly from the United Kingdom. Allen quickly re-wrote the script, which was originally set in New York, for an English setting.

Critics in the United States praised the film and its English setting and welcomed it as a return to form for Allen. In contrast, reviewers from the United Kingdom treated ''Match Point'' less favorably, finding fault with the locations and especially the British idiom in the dialogues. Allen was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]].

==Plot==
 <!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summary should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
Recently retired Irish tennis professional Chris Wilton is taken on as an instructor at an upmarket club in [[London]]. There, he strikes up a friendship with wealthy pupil Tom Hewett. Tom's sister Chloe is smitten with Chris, and they begin dating. During a family gathering, Chris meets Tom's American fiancée Nola Rice, and they become attracted to each other.

Chloe persuades her father, Alec, to give Chris a job as an executive in one of his companies. After this, Chris begins to be accepted into the family.

One afternoon, Tom's mother, Eleanor, questions Nola's choice of profession. Furious, Nola leaves the house during a thunderstorm. Chris follows Nola and confesses his feelings for her, and they have sex in a wheat field. Feeling guilty, Nola treats this as an accident. Chris, however, wants an ongoing affair. Chris and Chloe marry, while Tom ends his relationship with Nola.

Chloe, to her distress, does not become pregnant immediately. Chris tries to track down Nola but later meets her by chance at [[Tate Modern]]. He asks for her number, and they begin an affair.

While Chris spends time with his wife's family, Nola calls to inform him that she is pregnant. Panicked, he asks her to get an abortion, but she refuses, saying she wants to raise the child with him. Chris becomes distant from Chloe. She suspects Chris is having an affair, which he denies. Nola urges him to divorce his wife; he feels trapped and finds himself lying to Chloe as well as to Nola. Nola confronts him outside his apartment and he barely escapes public detection.

Soon afterwards, Chris takes a shotgun from his father-in-law's and brings it to his office in a tennis bag. After leaving the office, he calls Nola on her mobile to tell her he has good news. He goes to her building and gains entry into the apartment of her neighbor, Mrs. Eastby, whom he shoots and kills, staging a [[burglary]] by ransacking the rooms and stealing jewelry and drugs. As Nola returns, Chris shoots her in the stairwell, then takes a taxi to the theater to watch a musical with Chloe. [[Scotland Yard]] concludes the crime was likely committed by a drug addict stealing money. The following day, as the murder is in the news, Chris returns the shotgun and he and Chloe announce that she is pregnant.

Detective Mike Banner invites Chris for an interview concerning the murder. Before he goes to see the detectives, he throws Mrs. Eastby's jewelry and drugs into the river, but by chance, her ring bounces on the railing and falls to the pavement.

At the police station, Chris lies about his relationship with Nola, but Banner surprises him with her diary, in which he is featured extensively. He confesses his affair but denies any link to the murder. Chris appeals to the detectives not to involve him further in their investigation as news of the affair may end his marriage just as he and his wife are expecting a baby.

One night, Chris sees apparitions of Nola and Mrs. Eastby, who tell him to be ready for the consequences of his actions. He replies that his crimes, though wrong, were committed for a "grander scheme", and that he can suppress his guilt. The same night, Banner dreams that Chris committed the murders. The next morning, however, Banner's theory is discredited by his partner, Dowd, who reveals a drug addict found murdered on the streets had Eastby's ring in his pocket. The detectives consider the case closed and abandon any further investigation. Chloe gives birth to a baby boy named Terence, and his uncle Tom blesses him not with greatness but with luck.

==Cast==
{{cast listing|
* [[Jonathan Rhys Meyers]] as Chris Wilton
* [[Scarlett Johansson]] as Nola Rice
* [[Emily Mortimer]] as Chloe Hewett Wilton
* [[Matthew Goode]] as Tom Hewett
* [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]] as Alec Hewett
* [[Penelope Wilton]] as Eleanor Hewett
* [[Ewen Bremner]] as Inspector Dowd
* [[James Nesbitt]] as Detective Mike Banner
* [[Rupert Penry-Jones]] as Henry
* [[Margaret Tyzack]] as Mrs. Betty Eastby
* [[Alexander Armstrong]] as Mr. Townsend
* [[Geoffrey Streatfeild]] as Alan Sinclair
* [[Miranda Raison]] as Heather
* [[Zoe Telford]] as Samantha
* [[Rose Keegan]] as Carol
* [[Colin Salmon]] as Ian
* [[Toby Kebbell]] as Policeman
* [[Paul Kaye]] as Estate Agent
* [[Steve Pemberton]] as Detective Parry
}}

==Production==
The script was originally set in [[The Hamptons]], a wealthy enclave in New York, but was transferred to London when Allen found financing for the film there.<ref name='Scott'>{{cite news|last=Scott|first=A.O.|author-link=A. O. Scott|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/2005/12/28/movies/28matc.html|title=London Calling, With Luck, Lust and Ambition|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=28 December 2005|access-date=21 January 2012|archive-date=18 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718003125/http://movies.nytimes.com/2005/12/28/movies/28matc.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The film was partly funded by [[BBC Films]], which required that he make the film in the UK with largely local cast and crew. In an interview with ''[[The Observer]]'', Allen explained that he was allowed "the same kind of creative liberal attitude that I'm used to", in London. He complained that the American studio system was not interested in making small films: "They only want these $100 million pictures that make $500m."<ref name='Garfield'>{{cite news|last=Garfield|first=Simon|author-link=Simon Garfield|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/aug/08/features.review|title=Why I Love London|work=[[The Observer]]|date=8 August 2004|access-date=21 January 2012|archive-date=26 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926191008/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/aug/08/features.review|url-status=live}}</ref> The production budget was an estimated $15 million.<ref name="mojo">{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=matchpoint.htm |title=''Match Point'' (2005)|website=[[Box Office Mojo]]|access-date=11 November 2010|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701235048/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=main&id=matchpoint.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Casting}}
A further change was required when [[Kate Winslet]], who was supposed to play the part of Nola Rice, resigned a week before filming was scheduled to begin. Scarlett Johansson was offered the part, and accepted, but the character had to be re-written as an American. According to Allen, "It was not a problem...It took about an hour."<ref name='Garfield' />

Filming took place in London in the summer of 2004 over a seven-week schedule.<ref name='Garfield' /> Some of the city's landmarks, such as [[Tate Modern]], [[Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank|Norman Foster's]] "Gherkin" building at [[30 St Mary Axe]], [[Richard Rogers]]' [[Lloyd's building]], the [[Royal Opera House]], the [[Palace of Westminster]], [[Blackfriars Bridge]], and [[Cambridge Circus, London|Cambridge Circus]] form a backdrop to the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitbritain.co.uk/things-to-see-and-do/interests/films/top-film-titles/match-point/index.aspx |title=''Match Point'' |publisher=[[VisitBritain]] |access-date=27 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203150712/http://www.visitbritain.co.uk/things-to-see-and-do/interests/films/top-film-titles/match-point/index.aspx |archive-date=3 December 2008 }}</ref> The tennis club scenes were filmed at the [[Queen's Club]].<ref name='Garfield' /> One of the [[University of Westminster]]'s Marylebone campus lecture theatres was also used. UK-based graffiti artist [[Banksy]]'s ''[[:File:BANKSY LONDON.jpg|Girl With Balloon]]'' appears briefly in the film. One of the Parliament View apartments at [[Lambeth Bridge]] was used for interiors of Chris and Chloe's apartment. The restaurant scene was shot at the [[Covent Garden Hotel]].<ref>[http://filmlondon.org.uk/match_point ''Match Point''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711161254/http://filmlondon.org.uk/match_point |date=11 July 2019 }} at [[Film London]]</ref>

==Themes==
[[File:Woody Allen (2006).jpeg|left|thumb|upright|Woody Allen, 2006]]
The film's opening voiceover from Wilton introduces its themes of chance and fate, which he characterizes as simple luck, to him all-important. The sequence establishes the protagonist as an introvert, a man who mediates his experience of the world through deliberation, and positions the film's subjective perspective through his narrative eyes. Charalampos Goyios argued that this hero, as an opera lover, maintains a sense of distance from the outer world and that ramifications therein pale in comparison to the purity of interior experience.<ref name='Goyios'>Goyios, Charalampos [http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2006/40/match-point/ Living Life as an Opera Lover: On the Uses of Opera as Musical Accompaniment in Woody Allen's ''Match Point''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722082003/http://sensesofcinema.com/2006/40/match-point/ |date=22 July 2012 }}, ''[[Senses of Cinema]]'', Issue 40. Retrieved 21 January 2012.</ref>

The film is a debate with [[Fyodor Dostoevsky]]'s ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', which Wilton is seen reading early on, identifying him with the [[anti-hero]] [[Raskolnikov]].<ref name='Goyios' /> That character is a brooding loner who kills two women to prove that he is a superior being, but is racked by guilt and is finally redeemed by confession of his crime, the love of a young woman forced into prostitution, and the discovery of God. Wilton is a brooding loner who kills a poor girl who loves him because he considers his interests superior to those around him, knows little guilt, and avoids detection through luck. Allen signals his intentions with more superficial similarities: both are almost caught by a painter's unexpected appearance in the stairwell, and both sleuths play cat and mouse with the suspect. Allen argues, unlike Dostoevsky, that there is neither God, nor punishment, nor love to provide redemption. The theme of parody and reversal of Dostoevsky's motifs and subject matter has been visited by Allen before, in his film ''[[Love and Death]]''. In ''Love and Death'', the dialogue and scenarios [[parody]] Russian novels, particularly those by Dostoevsky and [[Leo Tolstoy|Tolstoy]], such as ''[[The Brothers Karamazov]]'', ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', ''[[The Gambler (novel)|The Gambler]]'', ''[[The Idiot]]'', and ''[[War and Peace]]''.<ref name=tcmart>{{cite web | last=Stafford | first=Jeff | url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17640/Love-and-Death/articles.html | title=Love and Death (1975) | publisher=[[TCM.com]] | access-date=23 August 2013 | quote=...he was able to pay homage to some of his favorite films: a battlefield hawker who sells [[blini]]s to the troops recalls [[Harpo Marx]] in ''[[Duck Soup (1933 film)|Duck Soup]]'' (1933), a dueling scene appears modeled on a Bob Hope routine in ''[[Monsieur Beaucaire (1946 film)|Monsieur Beaucaire]]'' (1946), the climax is a direct nod to Ingmar Bergman's ''[[The Seventh Seal]]'' (1957) and the ''[[Scythian Suite]]'' by Stravinsky is used as background music in one scene, just as it was in Sergei Eisenstein's ''[[Alexander Nevsky]]'' (1938). Famous dialogue from the novels of Tolstoy like ''[[War and Peace]]'' and ''[[Anna Karenina]]'' is also parodied along with in-jokes about the poetry of [[T. S. Eliot]]. | archive-date=31 July 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190731040302/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17640/Love-and-Death/articles.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In ''Match Point'', Allen moves the theme from parody to the more direct engagement of Dostoevsky's motifs and narratives.<ref name="tcmart" />

Allen revisits some of the themes he had explored in ''[[Crimes and Misdemeanors]]'' (1989), such as the existence of justice in the universe. Both films feature a murder of an unwanted mistress, and "offer a depressing view on fate, fidelity, and the nature of man".<ref name='Jacobs'>Jacobs, Andy [https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/12/19/match_point_2005_review.shtml ''Match Point'' (2006)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201015615/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/12/19/match_point_2005_review.shtml |date=1 December 2017 }} www.bbc.co.uk/film, 6 January 2006; Retrieved 21 January 2012</ref> That film's protagonist, Judah Rosenthal, is an affluent member of the [[upper-middle class]] having an extramarital affair. After he tries to break the affair off, his mistress blackmails him and threatens to go to his wife. Soon, Rosenthal decides to murder his mistress but is racked with guilt over violating his moral code. Eventually, he learns to ignore his guilt and go on as though nothing has happened. [[Philip French]] compared the two films' plots and themes in ''[[The Observer]]'', and characterized ''Match Point'''s as a "clever twist on the themes of chance and fate".<ref name='French' />

Money is an important motivator for the characters: both Wilton and Nola come from modest backgrounds and wish to enter the Hewett family using their sex appeal. That family's secure position is demonstrated by their large country estate, and, early on in their relationships, both prospective spouses are supported by Mr. Hewett Wilton with a position on "one of his companies." Nola reports being "swept off her feet" by Hewett's attention and presents.<ref name='Ebert'>[[Roger Ebert|Ebert, Roger]], [http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/match-point-2006 Review: ''Match Point''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920082244/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/match-point-2006 |date=20 September 2016 }}, 6 January 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2012</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] posed the film's underlying question as "To what degree are we prepared to set aside our moral qualms in order to indulge in greed and selfishness? Wilton is facing a choice between greed and lust, but his sweet wife, Chloe, herself has no qualms about having her father essentially 'buy' her husband for her."<ref name='Ebert' />

Jean-Baptiste Morain, writing in ''[[Les Inrockuptibles]]'', noticed how the strong do not accept their own weakness and have no qualms about perpetuating an injustice to defend their interests. This wider political sense is, he argued, accentuated by its English setting, where class differences are more marked than in the USA. The film pits passion and the dream of happiness against ambition and ''arrivisme'', resolving the dispute with a pitiless blow that disallows all chance of justice.<ref name='Morain' />

==Musical accompaniment==
The film's soundtrack consists almost entirely of pre-[[World War I]] [[78 rpm]] recordings of opera [[aria]]s sung by the Italian tenor [[Enrico Caruso]]. This bold use, despite Caruso's variety of musical styles, constitutes a first for Allen. Opera has been used before in his work as an indicator of social class, such as in ''[[Husbands and Wives]]'' (1992). In ''Match Point'', the arias and opera extracts make an ironic commentary on the actions of the characters and sometimes foreshadow developments in the movie's narrative. Furthermore, given Wilton's status as an introvert and opera enthusiast himself, the accompaniment emphasizes his detachment from his crime.<ref name='Goyios' />

The 10-minute murder scene which forms the film's climax is scored with almost the whole of the Act II duet between [[Othello (character)|Otello]] and [[Iago]] from [[Giuseppe Verdi]]'s ''[[Otello]]''. This is an atypical scoring for a film since Verdi's piece is not an aria, but a dramatic dialogue in which the words are as important as the music. Thus the astute spectator will be presented with ''two'' dramatic narratives to follow; Allen is not respecting traditional conventions of cinematic accompaniment since the score's events do not match the story unfolding onscreen.<ref name='Goyios' />

Arias and extracts include work by Verdi (in particular ''[[Macbeth (Verdi)|Macbeth]]'', ''[[La traviata]]'', '' [[Il trovatore]]'' and ''[[Rigoletto]]''), [[Gaetano Donizetti]]'s ''[[L'elisir d'amore]]'', [[Georges Bizet]]'s ''[[Les pêcheurs de perles]]'', and [[Antônio Carlos Gomes]]'s ''[[Salvator Rosa (opera)|Salvator Rosa]]'' sung by Caruso. The romanza "[[Una furtiva lagrima]]" from ''[[L'elisir d'amore]]'' is featured repeatedly, including during the opening credits. The Caruso arias are supplemented by [[diegetic]] music from contemporary performances that the characters attend over the course of the film. There are scenes at the [[Royal Opera House]] and elsewhere performed by opera singers (scenes from ''La traviata'' performed by [[Janis Kelly (soprano)|Janis Kelly]] and [[Alan Oke]], from ''Rigoletto'' performed by [[Mary Hegarty]]), accompanied by a piano (performed by Tim Lole).<ref>{{cite book|last=Harvey|first=Adam|year=2007|chapter=''Match Point'' (2005)|title=The Soundtracks of Woody Allen|publisher=Macfarland|pages=87–90|isbn=9780786429684}}</ref>

==Reception==
Allen has said that ''Match Point'' is one of his few "A-films", and even "arguably may be the best film that I've made. This is strictly accidental, it just happened to come out right. You know, I try to make them all good, but some come out and some don't. With this one, everything seemed to come out right. The actors fell in, the photography fell in and the story clicked. I caught a lot of breaks!"<ref name='Schembri'>Schembri, Jim "[http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/03/02/1141191769934.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 Words from Woody] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921063022/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/03/02/1141191769934.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 |date=21 September 2013 }}", ''[[The Age]]'', 6 January 2006. Retrieved 28 January 2012.</ref>

The film was screened out of competition at the [[2005 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4278017/year/2005.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Match Point |access-date=13 December 2009 |publisher=festival-cannes.com |archive-date=19 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119174824/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4278017/year/2005.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Match Point'' broke a streak of box office flops for Allen: it earned $85,306,374 worldwide, of which $23,151,529 was in its North American run.<ref name="mojo" /> Allen was also nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]].<ref>[http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/78th-winners.html 78th Annual Academy Awards] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224033332/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/78th-winners.html |date=24 December 2013 }} www.oscars.org. Retrieved 22 January 2012</ref>

The film received generally strong reviews from critics, particularly in the United States. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film has an approval rating of 77% based on 216 reviews with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Woody Allen's sharpest film in years, ''Match Point'' is a taut, philosophical thriller about class and infidelity."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/match_point|title=Match Point (2005)|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|publisher=[[Fandango Media|Fandango]]|access-date=2022-05-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913194452/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/match_point|archive-date=13 September 2020|url-status=live}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref> [[Metacritic]] reported the film had an average score of 72 out of 100, and thus "generally favorable reviews", based on 40 professional critics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/matchpoint|title=''Match Point'' Reviews|access-date=13 March 2018|publisher=[[CBS Interactive]]|work=[[Metacritic]]|archive-date=29 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429115025/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/matchpoint|url-status=live}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cinemascore.com/ |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=CinemaScore |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave the film a full four stars, and considered it among the four best Allen films.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-crimes-and-misdemeanors-1989|title=''Crimes and Misdemeanors''|access-date=11 September 2005|publisher=[[Roger Ebert]]|archive-date=26 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130426011031/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-crimes-and-misdemeanors-1989|url-status=live}}</ref> He described it as having a "terrible fascination that lasts all the way through".<ref name="Ebert" /> ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine gave the film four stars out of five, calling it Allen's best of his last half a dozen films, and recommended it even to those who are not fans of the director.<ref name="Smith">{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Adam|url=http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=10340|title=Review: ''Matchpoint''|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|access-date=21 January 2012|archive-date=21 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061251/http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=10340|url-status=live}}</ref>

Reviewers in the United Kingdom were generally less favorable. [[Philip French]], writing in ''[[The Observer]]'', criticized Allen's grasp of British idiom and the film's lack of humor, especially considering that two comic actors from the UK were cast in minor roles. Also, he called the dialogue "rather lumbering" and said that "the lexicons of neither the City financier nor the London constable are used convincingly."<ref name='French'>[[Philip French|French, Philip]] "[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/jan/08/review.features7 Matchpoint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207033144/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/jan/08/review.features7 |date=7 February 2017 }}", ''[[The Observer]]'', 8 January 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2012</ref> Tim Robey, writing in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', disdained the claim that the film was Allen's return to form. Although he acknowledged that the consensus was stronger this time, he called it "as flat-footed a movie as Allen has ever made, a decent idea scuppered by a setting – London – which he treats with the peculiarly tin-eared reverence of a visitor who only thinks he knows his way around." He called Johansson's character "the chain-smoking mistress from hell", but said the tennis net analogy has an "unexpectedly crisp payoff" and that the last act was well handled.<ref>Robey, Tim "[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3649152/Still-waiting-for-Woodys-comeback.html Still Waiting for Woody's Comeback] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007040331/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3649152/Still-waiting-for-Woodys-comeback.html |date=7 October 2018 }}" ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 6 January 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.</ref> Reviewing for the BBC's website, Andy Jacobs awarded the film four stars out of five and called it Allen's best film since ''[[Deconstructing Harry]]'' (1997). He also criticized some other British reviewers whose dislike, Jacobs stated, was due to the fact that Allen presented an agreeable portrait of middle-class life in London. He also praised the performances by Rhys Meyers and Johansson.<ref name='Jacobs' />

Like many of Allen's films, ''Match Point'' was popular in France: [[AlloCiné]], a cinema information website, gave it a score of 4.4 out of 5, based on a sample of 30 reviews.<ref>[http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-57866/critiques/ ''Matchpoint''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703205230/http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-57866/critiques/ |date=3 July 2013 }}, [[AlloCiné]]. Retrieved 21 January 2012. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> In ''[[Les Inrockuptibles]]'', a left-wing French cultural magazine, Jean-Baptiste Morain gave the film a strong review, calling it "one of his most accomplished films".<ref name='Morain'>Morain, Jean-Baptiste, [http://www.lesinrocks.com/cine/cinema-article/t/33827/date/2005-01-01/article/match-point/ ''Match Point''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906134033/http://www.lesinrocks.com/cine/cinema-article/t/33827/date/2005-01-01/article/match-point/ |date=6 September 2011 }}, ''Les Inrockuptibles'', 1 January 2005, Retrieved 22 January 2012. {{in lang|fr}}</ref> He characterized Allen's move to London as re-invigorating for him while recognizing the caricatured portrayal of Britain which made the film less appreciated there than in Allen's homeland, the United States. Morain called Rhys-Meyers and Johansson's performances "impeccable".<ref name='Morain' />

''Match Point'' has also been the object of scholarship. Joseph Henry Vogel argued the film is exemplary of [[ecocriticism]] as an [[economics|economic]] school of thought.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Ecocriticism as an Economic School of Thought: Woody Allen's ''Match Point'' as Exemplary|journal=OMETECA Science and Humanities|number=XII|year=2008|pages=105–119|first=Joseph Henry|last=Vogel}}</ref> Several critics and commentators have compared elements of the film to the central plot of [[George Stevens]]' film ''[[A Place in the Sun (1951 film)|A Place in the Sun]]'' (1951), but with some characters in reverse positions.<ref name='French' /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/01/09/060109crci_cinema|title=Game Playing: ''Match Point'', ''Casanova'', and ''The Matador''|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|first=David|last=Denby|author-link=David Denby|date=9 January 2006|access-date=28 February 2012|archive-date=18 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018120413/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/01/09/060109crci_cinema|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Accolades ==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Award
! scope="col" | Date of ceremony
! scope="col" | Category
! scope="col" | Recipient
! scope="col" | Result
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Ref heading|multi=no}}
|-
| [[Academy Awards]]
| [[78th Academy Awards|March 5, 2006]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]]
| [[Woody Allen]]
| {{nom}}
| align="center" | <ref>{{Cite web |title=The 78th Academy Awards |date=4 December 2015 |url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2006 |access-date=May 1, 2021 |publisher=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[César Awards]]
| [[31st César Awards|February 25, 2006]]
| [[César Award for Best Foreign Film|Best Foreign Film]]
| ''Match Point''
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |title=César Awards, France - 2006 Awards |url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000157/2006/1 |access-date=May 1, 2024 |publisher=[[IMDb]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Eagle Award (Russia)|Golden Eagle Award]]
| January 27, 2007
| [[Golden Eagle Award for Best Foreign Language Film (Russia)|Best Foreign Language Film]]
| ''Match Point''
| {{nom}}
| align="center" | <ref name="2006 nominations2">{{cite web|url=https://ruskino.ru/award/orel/2006|script-title=ru:Золотой Орел 2006|trans-title=Golden Eagle 2006|publisher=Ruskino.ru|access-date=6 March 2017|language=ru|archive-date=7 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307045913/https://ruskino.ru/award/orel/2006|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="4" | [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| rowspan="4" | [[63rd Golden Globe Awards|January 16, 2006]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama|Best Motion Picture – Drama]]
| ''Match Point''
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="4" align="center" | <ref>{{Cite web |title=Match Point |url=https://goldenglobes.com/film/match-point/ |access-date=May 1, 2024 |publisher=[[Hollywood Foreign Press Association]]}}</ref>
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| rowspan="2" | Woody Allen
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture|Best Supporting Actress]]
| [[Scarlett Johansson]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review]]
| [[National Board of Review Awards 2005|January 10, 2006]]
| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| ''Match Point''
| {{draw|Top 10}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |title=2005 Award Winners |url=https://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080304013649/http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=2005 |archive-date=March 4, 2008 |access-date=May 1, 2024 |publisher=[[National Board of Review]]}}</ref>
|-
|}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Film}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb title}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160811130034/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8a8db651 ''Match Point''] at the [[British Film Institute]]{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
* {{AFI film}}
* {{cite book |last=Sorrento |first=Matthew |chapter=Woody Allen's ''Match(ed) Point'': The Crime of Class |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cOnCHWLY_dsC&pg=PA130 |title=The New American Crime Film |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |year=2012 |pages=130–143 |isbn=978-0-7864-5920-9}}

{{Woody Allen}}
{{Crime and Punishment}}
{{David di Donatello for Best European Film}}
{{Goya Award for Best European Film}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2005 films]]
[[Category:2005 psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:2005 romantic drama films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]
[[Category:2000s British films]]
[[Category:2000s English-language films]]
[[Category:2000s pregnancy films]]
[[Category:2000s psychological drama films]]
[[Category:2000s romantic thriller films]]
[[Category:American pregnancy films]]
[[Category:American psychological drama films]]
[[Category:American psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:American romantic drama films]]
[[Category:American romantic thriller films]]
[[Category:BBC Film films]]
[[Category:British pregnancy films]]
[[Category:British psychological drama films]]
[[Category:British psychological thriller films]]
[[Category:British romantic drama films]]
[[Category:British romantic thriller films]]
[[Category:DreamWorks Pictures films]]
[[Category:English-language Luxembourgian films]]
[[Category:Films about adultery in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Films about murder]]
[[Category:Films about the upper class]]
[[Category:Films based on Crime and Punishment]]
[[Category:Films directed by Woody Allen]]
[[Category:Films produced by Gareth Wiley]]
[[Category:Films produced by Letty Aronson]]
[[Category:Films set in London]]
[[Category:Films shot in Berkshire]]
[[Category:Films shot in London]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Woody Allen]]
[[Category:HanWay Films films]]
[[Category:Luxembourgian romantic drama films]]
[[Category:Luxembourgian thriller films]]
[[Category:Tennis films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic drama films]]
[[Category:English-language romantic thriller films]]