Looking back at Woody Allen films of the past three decades, common threads are obvious: neurotic characters, peculiar situations, dry humor, and many scenes shot in flats, hotels or restaurants in and around New York City. Happily, Match Point (2005) contains none of these elements.
Instead, this intricate movie starring British hunk Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson is a smart and sexy thriller set in London that essentially sucks you in and doesn't let go until the credits roll at the end. And that's a good thing.
Rhys Meyers plays Chris Wilton, a former tennis pro who lands a job teaching lessons at an elite athletic club frequented by members of high society. One of these people is Tom Hewett (played by British actor Matthew Goode), who befriends Chris and invites him to a party at his wealthy family's estate. During the soiree, Chris is introduced Tom's sister Chloe, whom he starts dating soon after.
The proverbial plot thickens when Chris meets Tom's fiancée Nola Rice (played by Johansson), a Colorado native who moved to Britain in hopes of making it big as an actress. Nola is also street smart enough to notice his attraction right away. "He saw me across the room and he homed in on me like a guided missile," she says to herself at a poignant point at the beginning of the movie.
In a sexy scene that follows, Chris teaches Nola how to play the classic table game of ping-pong. However, he does it by wrapping his arms around hers and demonstrating how to move the paddle with force. As the romantic tension builds, Nola asks "Has anyone told you you play an aggressive game?" Chris returns with "Has anyone told you you have sensual lips?" "A very aggressive game," retorts Nola. This type of sensual word play eventually gets much deeper and Chris becomes obsessed with Nola, and visa versa.
As a result, a series of steamy romantic scenes follow in the garden, the bedroom, and other locations. But as the secret liaison continues, a combination of guilt and greed sets in when Chris realizes the relationship will cost him a golden opportunity to move up the ranks in the company owned by Chloe's family. From that point on, things move from weird to weirder to jaw-dropping. Forget what you think you know about Allen's work. This is pure intrigue without a gag or quip in sight.
In short, Match Point is wickedly clever film that stimulates and rattles the senses in much the same way a glass of deep, dense red wine can impact the palate. A tasty example of this would be Coppola 2004 Black Label Claret, Diamond Collection ($18*), a bold cabernet sauvignon-based wine made by filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola's winemaking staff with premium fruit grown in the pristine coastal and inland growing areas in Monterey, Paso Robles and El Dorado counties.
In England, the term "claret" has been used since the 12th Century to describe tasty red wine blends from the Bordeaux region in France. Today, similar styles of wine are made in California, as demonstrate by this very well-made wine which also contains smaller amounts of merlot, cabernet franc, malbec and petite verdot in order to add more complexity to the finished blend.
The result is a powerful yet rather sultry wine with a colorful deep purple hue, flavors of ripe blackberries, strawberries, cocoa, allspice, and a long smooth finish. And like the movie, it is even more stimulating and seductive when it's shared with someone special.
* Prices quoted in U.S. dollars
