MATCH POINT (DVD) (DOL DIG 2.0/ENG SDH/ENG/FRENCH/SPAN/ANAM WS/1.85:1) DVD

Match Point
A clandestine love affair sends one man's charmed life into a tailspin in this dark, disturbing drama written and directed by Woody Allen, his first film set and shot in Great Britain and one his few films sans any humor. Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) is an Irish tennis player with an impoverished background. Just accomplished enough to make his way onto the professional circuit, but not skilled enough to be a consistent winner, he now works as an instructor at a London tennis club. The wealthy Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), who is as impressed by Chris's charm and good looks as he is by his game, takes a tennis lesson from the young man. Chris's intelligence and wit also make a strong impression on Tom's pretty sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), who soon falls for him. It isn't long before Chris and Chloe are engaged to be married, a match that pleases both Tom and his father, Alec (Brian Cox), a successful businessman who believes Chris has a bright future in his firm. However, Chris also feels an overwhelming attraction to Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a sexy blonde from the United States who is dating Tom. Though Nola initially puts up some resistance, Chris gently nudges her in the direction of an affair. Passion soon ignites between the two, and they have a one-time sexual encounter, even as Chris and Chloe plan their wedding. Nola resists, however, when Chris makes additional attempts to wheedle her into bed. Nola drops out of Chris's life shortly before his wedding, but a chance meeting a few months later resurrects the relationship as Chris and Chloe try to start a family. Match Point received its world premiere in an enthusiastically received presentation at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast Scarlett Johansson as Nola Rice Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Chris Wilton Emily Mortimer as Chloe Hewett Wilton Matthew Goode as Tom Hewett Brian Cox as Alec Hewett Penelope Wilton as Eleanor Hewett Ewen Bremner as Inspector Dowd James Nesbitt as Detective Banner Rupert Penry-Jones as Henry Margaret Tyzack as Mrs. Eastby

Crew Jan Spoczynski - Art Director Diane Dancklefsen - Art Director Shaun Mills - Boom Operator Gail Stevens - Casting Juliet Taylor - Casting Patricia Kerrigan DiCerto - Casting Helen Robin - Co-producer Nicky Kentish Barnes - Co-producer Jill Taylor - Costume Designer Chris Newman - First Assistant Director Woody Allen - Director Alisa Lepselter - Editor Stephen Tenenbaum - Executive Producer Sallie Jaye - Hair Styles Paul Mooney - Hair Styles Sue Quinn - Location Manager Michael Harm - Location Manager Lucy Foulds - Location Manager Sallie Jaye - Makeup Carmel Jackson - Makeup Jim Clay - Production Designer Remi Adefarasin - Cinematographer Begona Lopez - Producer Matthew Bristowe - Producer Lucy Darwin - Producer Gareth Wiley - Producer Sarah Best - Producer Letty Aronson - Producer Sarah Forbes - Set Designer David Wahnon - Sound Editor Tori Parry - Unit Production Manager Woody Allen - Screenwriter Michelle Martin - Production Assistant Martin Hobbs - Visual Effects Supervisor Coll Anderson - Sound Effects Editor Jimmy Wilson - Gaffer Ian Franklin - Gaffer John Arnold - Grip Scott Kordish - Post Production Coordinator Roger Reid - Post Production Supervisor Francesca Dowd - Production Coordinator Eddie Baker - Properties Phillip McDonald - Properties Master Lee Dichter - Re-Recording Mixer Kim Armitage - Script Supervisor Clive Coote - Still Photographer Robert Hein - Supervising Sound Editor Oliver Goodier - Assistant Art Director Charlotte Sewell - Assistant Costumer Designer Joseph Jayawardena - Assistant Location Manager Molly Tudhope - Assistant Location Manager Lee Robertson - Assistant Location Manager Finlay Pile - Assistant Location Manager Aurelia Thomas - Assistant Location Manager Carrie-Ann Banner - Assistant Production Coordinator Akil Jelani Wilson - Assistant Sound Editor Mark Funnell - Best Boy Grip David Wheal - Casting Assistant Julie Schubert - Casting Assistant William Davies - Casting Assistant Claire Saunders - Casting Associate Sylvia Menno - Dialogue Editor Brian Sullivan - Electrician Ben Wilson - Electrician Dennis Holliday - Electrician Anthony Burnes - Electrician David "Jim" Wall - Electrician Rob Rabson - Electrician Morgan Neville - First Assistant Editor Nancy Cabrera - Foley Artist Sarah Allentuch - Personal Assistant Louise O'Malley - Production Accountant Michael Wood - Production Executive Michael Dounaev - Production Executive Jimmy De Brabant - Production Executive Richard Goodwin - Second Unit Assistant Director Martin Cook - Visual Effects Richard Comline - Visual Effects Andrew Morley - Visual Effects Mark Curtis - Visual Effects Partic Roos - Visual Effects Rudi Holzapfel - Visual Effects Caroline Smith - Set Decorator Charles H. Joffe - Co-Executive Producer Jack Rollins - Co-Executive Producer John Adefarasin - Clapper Loader Waseem Barlas - Driver Darren Thackeray - Driver Ron Narduzzo - Driver Simon Saunders - Driver Steve Mitchard - Driver Patrick Sands - Driver David Cozens - Focus Puller Ray Bateman - Generator Operator Peter Glossop - Production Sound Mixer Maximillian Roeg - Runner Carrie Johnson - Set Medic/First Aid Tom Glaisyer - Third Assistant Director Dickie Etchells - Title Design Katherine Fisher - Assistant Editor Steve Conway - Standby Properties Dave Williamson - Standby Carpenter

Match Point
Match Point is the most consistent Woody Allen picture in about 15 years. Not since Husbands and Wives has he shown such detail to the simple craft of storytelling, and this is what should give hope to longtime Allen fans who might have begun to question how many good films the great director may have left in him. The film does not break new ground thematically, but simply by setting the film in London it feels fresh. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is cast well as Chris Wilton, a tennis pro always looking to climb up the social ladder. His inherently cold features help make the character more menacing than might have been intended. It lends the character a steely confidence when a different actor might have played the character more passively. Matthew Goode turns in a fine supporting performance alongside Emily Mortimer and the always reliable Brian Cox as the rich family Chris befriends. Nola Rice, the femme fatale, appears at first to be a familiar character in Allen's work -- the emotionally erratic, sexually voracious woman. However, Allen smartly alters this stereotype in intriguing ways. Although the first scene overplays the character's hand, Scarlett Johansson brings an intelligence and a presence to the part the grounds it. She is beautiful, but she is not unstable. She is a three-dimensional person, not simply the personification of the lead male's erotic desires. The screenplay has a fatalism that will be familiar to anyone who knows Allen's non-comedies, a fact that bleeds some of the drama out of the third act of the film as many people will see how it is going to end. But good storytelling is as much about how events unfold as it is about how the story ends. Match Point offers the encouraging experience of a great director and writer rediscovering his muse thanks to a new city and new actors. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
 

Scarlett Johansson: Chicago Film Critics Association, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Scarlett Johansson: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Woody Allen: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Original Screenplay (nominated) Woody Allen: Golden Globe, Best Director (nominated) Woody Allen: Golden Globe, Best Screenplay (nominated) Woody Allen: Online Film Critics Association, Best Original Screenplay (nominated)

Cannes Film Festival, Film Presented (nominated) Golden Globe, Best Picture - Drama (nominated) Iowa Film Critics Association, Best Movie Yet to Open in Iowa (nominated) National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 124 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- Match Point 1. Welcome to London [6:12] 2. It's a Date [4:26] 3. An Aggressive Game [3:48] 4. Your Place or Mine? [2:55] 5. Luck vs. Hard Work [5:44] 6. Which Do You Prefer? [3:46] 7. Confidence [6:50] 8. Second Guesses [6:53] 9. Moving Up in the World [6:53] 10. Bad Timing [3:35] 11. Blind Chance [6:25] 12. A New Interest [1:09] 13. Getting Bored [4:48] 14. Bad Luck [2:27] 15. Feeling Guilty [4:34] 16. "On Holiday" [6:24] 17. Liar! [3:45] 18. The Plan [5:56] 19. The Tragedy of Life [3:06] 20. Unlucky [6:13] 21. Shocking News [5:36] 22. A Few Questions [6:19] 23. The Greater Scheme [6:47] 24. End Credits [7:06]