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Woody Allen scores again in 'Match Point'

Not since "A Place in the Sun" has a movie so expertly examined the explosive consequences of ambition, lust, greed and selfishness.

"Match Point" is Woody Allen's best picture in more than a decade — an excellent character piece/social study that evolves into a suspense thriller with an O. Henry twist.

DreamWorks Pictures 'Match Point' A- The verdict: Woody Allen's back with a wow of a movie. Director: Woody Allen Starring: Brian Cox, Matthew Goode, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Run time: 124 minutes Release date: Dec. 28, 2005 Rating: R for some sexuality. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Allen's theme is the nature of luck. Better to be lucky than good says Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), the film's protagonist. A former professional tennis player (good enough to play the likes of Andre Agassi), Chris has retired from the pro circuit and taken a job as a tennis coach at a posh London country club. One of his first pupils is Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), a wealthy, easygoing "tennis, anyone?" type who takes a shine to Chris and asks him to join him in the family box at the opera. There, Chris meets Chloe (Emily Mortimer), Tom's cute, unattached sister.

An invitation for a weekend at the country estate soon follows. Chris and Chloe become an item and before long are married. Becoming part of the Hewett dynasty is quite a change of pace for the less-than-weathly Chris, who ends up with a new job and a flat overlooking the Thames.

However, on that same first weekend, Chris meets Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), an aspiring actress from Colorado who's engaged to Tom. She introduces herself with one of the best femme fatale opening lines this side of "Double Indemnity." Fiddling with her ping-pong paddle after vanquishing yet another player, she asks, "So, who's my next victim?"

Chris is. In more ways than one.

Already bored with Chloe, who's become obsessed with having a baby, Chris is completely smitten with the sexy, challenging Nola. Don't ruin your good fortune by making a pass at me, she cautions, as one outsider to another. But Chris throws caution to the wind.

Though there are clearly some parallels with "Crimes and Misdemeanors " and even "Hannah and Her Sisters," "Match Point" doesn't mark the return of the "old" Woody Allen. The London air must have done something for the veteran filmmaker because this is an entirely new voice. If his name weren't in the credits, critics would be raving about a stimulating newcomer with a distinctive style.

True, these upper-crust Belgravians, nattering about polo ponies, visits to the Greek Isles and "G and T's" (gin and tonics), aren't all that different from the rarefied, literate residents of the Upper East Side who populate Allen's earlier pictures. But along with a much-needed change of scenery — even a place in the Hamptons can't compete with an English manor — comes a change in point of view.

The filmmaker has finally accepted (perhaps temporarily) that no no one can play Woody Allen except Woody Allen. There's no Woody surrogate in "Match Point," and by removing his familiar neurotic presence from the mix he's discovered new things to say and new ways to say them.

Yet his gift for telling dialogue and character nuance is unchanged. For instance, Chloe is an attractive, likable young woman, but she's been a "girl on the town" a few years too long. She's too available, too open, and her gawky, self-deprecating charm is more sweet than sensual. "She's very bright," Chris says to Tom after meeting her.

Not exactly the words of someone passionately in love.

The genius of Rhys Meyers' performance is the way he keeps us guessing. The "very bright" remark may not be passionate, but, we wonder, is it calculated to express interest nonetheless? Is he a reasonably nice guy who's happened onto a gold mine, so to speak, or is he a cold-eyed social climber? Does he pursue Nola because he truly can't help himself or because, now that the marriage deal has been brokered, he feels free to pursue other interests, and Nola is as convenient as she is gorgeous?

And gorgeous she is. Johansson has never looked this delectable, this irresistible, this mesmerizing. Nola's self-confidence is stunning, as is her self-awareness — and the actress nails them both. As good as she was in "Lost in Translation" and "Ghost World," you would never have suspected she had this kind of talent.

When it comes to luck, Allen would probably agree with Chloe, who believes more in hard work. However, it takes just as much hard work to make a lousy movie (try, a string of lousy movies) as it does to make a good one. Allen's luck has been variable in both his personal and professional life. But with a movie like "Match Point," he's not the one who's lucky. We are.