Match Point (film)

The film opens with the voiceover of the film’s key character, trainer Chris Wilton.

At the same time, a game of tennis is shown. The ball, having hit the upper edge of the net, soars vertically upward. Who wins depends on which half of the field the ball falls, but the fall of the ball is not shown.

The action takes place in England . A humble Irish guy Chris Wilton ( Jonathan Rhys-Myers ), realizing that he will not become a successful professional tennis player, takes a job as a coach in an exclusive English sports club. He moves to London, where he meets Tom Hewitt ( Matthew Goode ), a young man from a very wealthy family. Carried away by the classical opera and the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Chris gradually gets closer to Tom's sister, Chloe ( Emily Mortimer ). At one of the family dinners in the Hewitt’s house, Chris meets with young American actress Nola Rice ( Scarlett Johansson ), who is Tom’s bride and is desperate to break into the midst of British aristocrats. Once, after a quarrel with his mother, Tom Nola decides to leave the Hewits forever. Chris catches up with her in the field and confesses her feelings to her, then she and Nola make love in the same place, but subsequently Nola refuses to continue the affair with Chris.

After a while, Chris marries Chloe and becomes a successful businessman, getting a good well-paid job in her father's company. Tom breaks up with Nola, but this does not help Chris: his love for Nola turns into an obsession with him. Nola changes the phone number and leaves for a new apartment. However, Chris accidentally meets her at the exhibition. Nola agrees to give him his phone. Between them begins a stormy romance. Chloe's wife is interested in Chris less and less. Chloe tries, but cannot get pregnant, and the sex between her and her husband turns into a routine, a medical procedure.

Meanwhile, Nola becomes pregnant and flatly refuses to have an abortion. Chris promises to tell Chloe about everything and divorce her, although such a divorce will be the collapse of his career for him: Chloe's father will kick him out of work. However, he cannot gather his courage to inflict such a blow on naive Chloe, and draws with an explanation. Gradually, Chris begins to regret his reckless promise. Nola presses him harder and harder, intending to tell Chloe herself about their romance and accusing Chris of leading her by the nose. Chris does not know how to fence off from Nola.

One evening, Chris takes his father-in-law’s hunting rifle, enters the apartment of Nola’s elderly neighbor, kills her and pretends to robbery, stealing money, jewelry and medicines. After that, he waits for Nola to appear on the landing and shoots her so that the murder of Nola would look like the murder of an accidental witness, and goes to the theater, where his wife is already looking for him.

The day after the murder, Chloe finds out about her pregnancy and tells her parents and Chris. At the same time, a bell rings from the detective investigating the case: Chris is asked to appear at the police station. Chris gets rid of stolen items by throwing them into the river. However, the elderly lady’s engagement ring, hitting the railing like a ball at the beginning of the film, does not fall into the water, but remains on the waterfront.

According to Chris, the police will believe that some drug addict killed Nola’s neighbor to rob, and then Nola as an accidental witness. The basic version is just that, but the detective conducting the case discovers Nola's diary and begins to suspect Chris. A few days after the murder, the detective has a dream in which he sees Chris, Nola and her neighbor and understands how it was.

Chris is saved by chance: a few days after he killed Nola, another murder takes place in the area - a drug addict is shot and they find in his pocket a ring from the apartment of Nola’s neighbor, who was killed by Chris. Thus, the main version of the murder is unequivocally confirmed.

The last scene - Chloe brings a newborn baby from the maternity hospital, to Chris's family a holiday, but Chris does not participate in it, but stands and looks out the window.

• 2006 - Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen)
• 2006 - 4 nominations for the Golden Globe Award: Best Film - Drama, Best Director (Woody Allen), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Scarlett Johansson), Best Screenplay (Woody Allen)
• 2006 - nomination for the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film (Woody Allen)
• 2006 - David di Donatello Award for Best European Film (Woody Allen)
• 2006 - Edgar Allan Poe Award Nomination for Best Screenplay (Woody Allen)
• 2006 - Goya Award for Best European Film (Woody Allen)
• 2005 - getting into the top ten best films of the year according to the US National Film Critics

• Official movie website
• " Match Point ” on the Internet Movie Database