{"id":126,"date":"2006-01-22T13:51:34","date_gmt":"2006-01-22T18:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/?p=126"},"modified":"2022-10-26T18:52:23","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T22:52:23","slug":"match-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/match-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Woody Allen’s Match Point plays with your sympathies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Woody Allen’s Match Point<\/em> is fantastic. Brilliant. Morally complex. Almost unbearably intense. It plays with your sympathies in way I haven’t seen since Hitchcock’s Frenzy<\/em> (which I personally found cruel and sadistic, unlike Match Point<\/em>). Up there with Crimes & Misdemeanors<\/em> among Allen’s best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woody Allen’s Match Point is fantastic. Brilliant. Morally complex. Almost unbearably intense. It plays with your sympathies in way I haven’t seen since Hitchcock’s Frenzy (which I personally found cruel and sadistic, unlike Match Point). Up there with Crimes & Misdemeanors among Allen’s best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2],"tags":[448,738],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5-stars","category-movies","tag-scarlett-johansson","tag-woody-allen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/match-point.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa9lhB-22","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":125,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/manhattan\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":0},"title":"Manhattan","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"January 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Amazingly, upon a second viewing I didn't care for Woody Allen's Manhattan nearly as much as I remembered. Perhaps its status in the canon has retroactively enhanced my opinion. But it still inspires as a big, fat, sloppy kiss to my city, and a poster of Woody & Diane beneath\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Manhattan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/manhattan-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/manhattan-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/manhattan-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/manhattan-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/01\/manhattan-1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":670,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/margot-at-the-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":1},"title":"Noah Baumbach’s Margot at the Wedding","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"March 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I very much loved writer\/director Noah Baumbach's previous film The Squid and The Whale, blessed with an excellent script and superb performances all around (especially by the versatile Jeff Daniels - heartbreaking in Pleasantville, and capable of humanizing no less an icon than George Washington in The Crossing). Margot at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Margot at the Wedding","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/margot-at-the-wedding-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/margot-at-the-wedding-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/margot-at-the-wedding-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/margot-at-the-wedding-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/03\/margot-at-the-wedding-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1942,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/impostors\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":2},"title":"The Time Has Come to Act: Stanley Tucci’s The Impostors","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"November 6, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm not blind to its shortcomings, but The Impostors is one of my most favorite movie comfort foods. That I find it so funny and purely enjoyable is really saying something, considering its milieu is the joblessness, desperation, and looming international conflict of The Great Depression. The pitch: a loving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"4 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/4-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/impostors-central-park.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/impostors-central-park.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/impostors-central-park.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/impostors-central-park.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/impostors-central-park.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4477,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/gorging-on-nostalgia-solo-a-star-wars-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":3},"title":"Gorging on Nostalgia: Solo: A Star Wars Story","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Like a big bowl of candy, Solo: A Star Wars Story certainly went down easy. But also like a big bowl of candy, generations raised on too much Star Wars are going to gorge themselves sick on nostalgia. Who filled that bowl, and why? When Disney acquired the Star Wars\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"2 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/2-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solo: A Star Wars Story","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solo-a-star-wars-story.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solo-a-star-wars-story.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solo-a-star-wars-story.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solo-a-star-wars-story.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/solo-a-star-wars-story.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":937,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/batman-dark-knight\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":4},"title":"Batman wants to be taken seriously in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"August 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I really wanted to like The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan (also cowriter with brother Jonathan) and star Christian Bale have long proved themselves thoughtful, serious filmmakers, but if they have one common flaw it might be a terminal deficiency of levity. The Dark Knight inarguably has all the hallmarks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Dark Knight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/batman-dark-knight-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/batman-dark-knight-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/batman-dark-knight-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/batman-dark-knight-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/batman-dark-knight-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":906,"url":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/vantage-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":126,"position":5},"title":"The Rashomon effect in Pete Travis’ Vantage Point","author":"Chad Ossman","date":"July 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Vantage Point is an awesome technical achievement, and I don't mean that to damn it with faint praise. Director Pete Travis and writer Barry Levy demonstrate excellent plotting, spatial sense, editing, logistics, and continuity. As a thriller it moves forward relentlessly, and feels comprehensible, self-contained, and very satisfying. It is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "3 Stars"","block_context":{"text":"3 Stars","link":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/category\/ratings\/3-stars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Vantage Point","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/07\/vantage-point-feature.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7813,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions\/7813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chadossman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}