I'm just saying...

To preface my counterpoint, I'd like to say that I'm not about to trash talk my favorite director. In my book Woody Allen is the most (sm)artful, hilarious, and original writer/director ever, and there aren't enough hyperboles in the universe to express my admiration for the guy. He's terrific.

That said, I thought Match Point was pretty good, but not that great.

Tiny irony (Kate) makes some good points about the film's drama and moral ambiguity; the plot gives you a lot to chew on. The importance of luck is visited and re-re-re-visted, plus that whole question, "Can a man live with killing the nutso mistress who threatened his successful—if a little dull—life?," and the movie does a fine job of playing this out.

But let's think back to 1989, to Allen's comedy/drama Crimes and Misdemeanors. In spite of the humorous Woody Allen-Alan Alda subplot, Martin Landau finds himself in a situation with the bewitching and possibly insane Anjelica Huston. She threatens to tell his wife about it and ruin his career. Conflicted, Landau visits his shady-seeming brother Jerry Orbach, who has fantastick hit-man connections. And soon, we ask ourselves: "Can a man live with killing the nutso mistress who threatened his successful—if a little dull—life?"

Of course there are differences, too. If they did film a sexy cornfield love-making scene of Landau and Huston, who were 58 and 38 at the time, somehow it ended up on the cutting room floor. And maybe we're better for that. Landau's Judah Rosenthal isn't as dashing and cocksure as Jonathan Rhys-Meyers' Chris Wilton; one has an extramarital affair with Delores Paley while the other bangs Nola Rice.

Landau doesn't get to shoot the insufferable Lady Tippins from Our Mutual Friend with a shotgun.

And there's Scarlett Johansson, but I'm not that into her. Christina Ricci* played a much better crack/sexpot aspiring actress in Anything Else.

I'll admit there's a lot to like about Match Point: It keeps a good pace without skimping on substance, and the supporting cast members make it believable. The props, music, and costumes aren't as overdone as Melinda and Melinda's were. It shows an upswing, but to me it's a revision; I still hope The Squid and the Whale takes the screenplay Oscar.

And to those who've actually read this far, hats off to you.



*who did a great job in the "Code Black" episode of Grey's Anatomy on Sunday night (who saw it? Hands up!)

Game, set...

I recently saw Match Point, and I was so enthralled by it, I thought about the characters for three straight days after seeing it. If you like drama, sex, moral ambiguity, and hot people, I honestly can't think of a more edifying way to spend two hours of your life than seeing this movie.

Now, for those of you who don't know, Edie is a DIE-HARD WOODY ALLEN FAN, so you might think she'd rave about this picture. Ha! The only thing Edie likes more than Woody Allen is disagreeing with me!

So I'm teeing it up for her: Even though I saw it in January, this was the best movie I saw all last year.

Frankly, although the indie flick "Hawaii, Oslo" was pretty good too, in addition to being hip and foreign, it regrettably did not have enough sex to top my list.