Match Point

Gven Golly and I went to a movie Friday night, almost like a real date except she paid. We saw "Match Point" expecting something different from Woody Allen, which is asking to be let down, and we were. Very clever in the usual Woody ways, in which rich, sophisticated, manipulative people drive each other crazy in London instead of New York. How very original.

Same self-destructive, self-serving desires and deceptions, same whining wives and bitter mistresses, same graciously meddling in-laws. Same hash of the familiar obsessive themes of his last ten movies, but without the humor, dressed up with fabulous set designs and location shots in classy London settings. How very innovative.

The Allen, Joffe, et al. team must save a lot of money by recycling the credits of their last ten movies with actors' names spliced in, in case anybody's still watching by the end. At least those talented designers provided some cool art gallery visuals so there was something to look at while the current herd of young actors, anxious to have a Woody film on their resumes, recite tired dialog without conviction. If they're smart, they'll hire a different writer and director for their next project.

The most interesting scene was outside the theater after the film was over, as Gven and I walked to the little Italian restaurant next door. In a cinema verite set in a shopping center in Central Swingstate, we ran into co-workers Amelia and Alice coming out of the theater after seeing "Brokeback Mountain." Small world or just small town, it was a juicy moment to stand there on the sidewalk in the mild March air and share our reactions to two movies.

In another version of that scene, we all would have gone out for dessert and decaf to talk about "Match Point" and "Brokeback," apply the premise of each to our own relationships, and compare the characters to people we know. We would cast our favorite actors in the remake set in Methodistville, retitled "Backlash Mountain." Just reconstructing a backstory for the Amelia-and-Alice date in my overactive imagination was more entertaining than the movie that had just cost my date sixteen dollars.