Change Your Image
earthward
Reviews
Match Point (2005)
surprisingly good
Given the sexy, suspense thriller image that marketers have created for this movie I went into it expecting something formulaic, high on action and sex and low on character development. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a thought-provoking story driven by subtle characterizations and allusions to Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The interactions of the characters are intriguing to watch and grounded in realism and the acting is mostly strong throughout.
A voice-over at the beginning suggests that luck may be more of a determining factor in life than is often thought and the events which follow support this central idea. At the same time the film explores the familiar themes of obsession and love vs. ambition. Whether the movie intends to be taken seriously with respect to any of these themes is hard to tell. Unfortunately any serious artistic aims are undermined towards the end, where real-life credibility takes a back-seat the clever machinations of the plot.
Though artistically less sound, this movie is nevertheless a worthwhile ride as it manages to be both very entertaining and thought-provoking at the same time.
Lady Jane (1986)
interesting but overly sentimental
Interesting historically and visually impressive but I found it too slow and sentimental.
A number of scenes could have been left out or shortened considerably. It seems like the writers conjured the romance between the leads (which wasn't historically accurate) to make the movie more palatable to audiences. But most of the love scenes were dull and dragged on way to long.
A lot of the historical detail was observed so it's worth seeing if you're interested in the history and don't mind fast-forwarding through the cheesy bits.