Match Point

First of all I love it bcause Woody is not in it...not even as a character, which is rare. Usually he is either in the middle of it all, or casts someone to play a part he bases on himself or a fantasy of himself. So that was very refreshing to start off with.

But getting beyond that, Woody has an interesting way of filmmaking. He believes the casting is of utmost importance and that once you complete picking the cast, the director's job is to get out of the actors' way, and let them do their job.
Of course, his dialogue so defines the characters that he is assured good performances. His writing is brilliant.

In Match Point Woody uses the metaphor of tennis to drive home his belief that we live in a random universe that depends more on luck than anything else. He weaves this theme through every scene and subplot.

And what a SUB world all these plots are in. There is not a truly nice person in this story: they're all either greedy, lustful, calculating, or all three and at the core, will do whatever it takes to get what they want...going shockingly further than you can imagine given the spectacular surroundings they inhabit, and which one would think they would take better care of. But not to worry, in this random universe, luck always intervenes to favor the "upper crust" which makes it a morals play, set in London, with the usual spectacular backdrop of the city setting the mood.

Of course it has a wonderful soundtrack. Woody always provides gorgeous music...music appropriate to the age of the story.

This is a dark comedy presented in a light and charming way. As he usually does, Woody got all the elements working together to tell the story. I was mesmerized.

Buy at AllPosters.com

"Una furtiva lagrima"
from "L'Elisir d'Amore"
Composed by Gaetano Donizetti
Performed by Enrico Caruso
Courtesy of Sony BMG Entertainment Inc.
Licensed by Sony BMG Special Markets

"Un dì felice, eterea"
from "La Traviata"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Alan Oke
Piano by Tim Lole
Arranged and Conducted by Tim Lole

"Mal reggendo all'aspro assalto"
from "Il Trovatore"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Enrico Caruso
Courtesy of Sony BMG Entertainment Inc.
Licensed by Sony BMG Special Markets

"Mi par d'udir ancora"
from "I Pescatori di Perle"
Composed by Georges Bizet
Performed by Enrico Caruso
Licensed courtesy of EMI Records Limited

"Mia piccirella"
from "Salvator Rosa"
Composed by Carlos Gomes
Performed by Enrico Caruso
Courtesy of Sony BMG Entertainment Inc
Licensed by Sony BMG Special Markets

"Gualtier Malde!.. Caro nome"
from "Rigoletto"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Mary Hegarty
Piano by Tim Lole
Arranged and Conducted by Tim Lole

"Arresta"
from "Guglielmo Tell"
Composed by Gioacchino Rossini
Performed by Janez Lotric & Igor Morozov
Courtesy of Naxos of America

"Desdemona"
from "Otello"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Janez Lotric & Igor Morozov
Courtesy of Naxos of America

"I Believe My Heart"
from "The Woman in White"
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics by David Zippel
Performed by Martin Crewes
Courtesy of EMI Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

"O figli, o figli miei!"
from "Macbeth"
Composed by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by Enrico Caruso
Courtesy of Sony BMG Entertainment Inc.
Licensed by Sony BMG Special Markets

"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons."

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve it by not dying."

"You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be one hundred."

If Jesus Christ were to come back today and see all the atrocities that have been committed in His name, He would never stop throwing up."