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The best remains to be seen

Woody Allen's Match Point doesn't open in the bay area until Jan. 20, but the romantic thriller is worth waiting for.

By STEVE PERSALL
Published December 29, 2005

2005 will be remembered for the stunning comeback of a cinematic icon yanked from the security of his natural surroundings. His name is Hollywood legend, his persona as enormous and recognizable as the Empire State Building among Manhattan monuments.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you ...

Woody Allen.

Earlier this year, critics and audiences wrote off Allen as a filmmaker beyond his prime when Melinda and Melinda was an artistic and commercial flop. Turns out the Woodman was just playing possum, perhaps intentionally lowering expectations that have been too high for too long.

Then along comes Match Point, a radical departure from Allen's usual oeuvre, set in England rather than his beloved New York. Yet it's his finest creation in years, not a madcap comedy, or a dreary drama, or even one of the filmmaker's semi-autobiographical indulgences. Nobody could predict that, at 70, Allen would set aside his desire to emulate Bergman or Fellini and become the reincarnation of Alfred Hitchcock.

Match Point is this critic's choice as the best film of 2005.

You won't see for yourself until Jan. 20 when Allen's suspenseful romance debuts in bay area theaters. But you will be impressed.

Now Match Point is flying under the radar despite four Golden Globe nominations for best drama, supporting actress (Scarlett Johansson) and Allen's directing and screenplay. More attention is being paid to Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, a controversial saga of forbidden love among cowboys that is a close runner-up on my Top 10 list.

It took two viewings for Lee's love story to seep into my bones. Match Point chilled them immediately with its Dostoevski-style story of lust turned crime and eventually damning punishment. I was literally talking back to the screen, sometimes pausing the DVD screener to marvel at the film's effect and its creator's artistic rebirth.

That immediacy - and a personal impulse to differ from the critical consensus building around Brokeback Mountain - nudged Match Point to the top.

Honestly, neither film would crack the Top 5 in a better year for movies. If not for the annual late rush of award contenders, 2005 would have only a handful of films worth cherishing. Moviegoers have responded to the declining quality and originality with a 7 percent drop in ticket sales and a growing preference for home video and pay-per-view showings.

It's a short list of 2005 films that I'd pay to see again, taking my chances with the occasional hassles of rude viewers and clumsy projection. Risk is a key element in art, both creating it and, these days, enjoying it in theaters as film artists intend.

These films make those risks worthwhile:

1. "Match Point" - A former tennis pro (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) becomes obsessed with the girlfriend (Scarlett Johansson) of his fiancee's brother. The resulting deception and violence make this almost unrecognizable as a Woody Allen movie, but it's among best of his career. Scheduled to open Jan. 20 in Tampa Bay area theaters.

2. "Brokeback Mountain" - The gay cowboy angle bothers some moviegoers, but Ang Lee's beautifully photographed film is one of the most affecting love stories in years. Heath Ledger is a best actor Oscar contender, with able support from Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams. Scheduled to open Jan. 6 in the bay area.

3. "Capote" - Philip Seymour Hoffman's uncanny channeling of the late author Truman Capote is 2005's finest acting achievement. The drama behind Capote's research of the landmark crime novel In Cold Blood resonates in today's uneasy balance of news and entertainment.

4. "Good Night, and Good Luck" - Like Capote, George Clooney's film has plenty to say about the responsibility of free press, although set a half-century ago. The televised showdown between CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the Red Scare is perfectly evoked in You Are There fashion.

5. "King Kong" - Peter Jackson's movie is everything mainstream movies have become - a presold remake brimming with special effects - and seldom do so brilliantly. It's a marvel of digital film technology, from eye-popping set designs to Andy Serkis' wonderful motion-capture performance of Kong. Naomi Watts' performance amid all the wizardry makes a world of difference.

6. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" - A badlands drama of loyalty and revenge that Sam Peckinpah would have loved to direct. Instead, Tommy Lee Jones makes an impressive debut behind the camera, and another vivid impression before it, playing a Texas rancher fulfilling his promise to an illegal immigrant killed by a border patrol officer (Barry Pepper). No Tampa Bay release date has been set.

7. "Murderball" - It's a crime that more people didn't see the best documentary of 2005, probably because they expected a pity party for wheelchair rugby athletes. Rolling roughnecks such as Mark Zupan and Tampa resident Joe Soares will gladly tell you what to do with that pity. Now available on DVD.

8. "Crash" - Paul Haggis' ensemble drama of Los Angeles race relations gets better with each viewing. Such a culturally diverse cast of characters is rare, as is the sheer volume of provocative topics. Nobody's perfect and everybody hesitates to recognize the value of others beneath their skin color. Crash raises more questions than it answers, inspiring viewers to think things through after the show. Now available on DVD.

9. "Rent" - The era and ethics are dated, yet the emotional pull of Jonathan Larson's musical is timeless. Director Chris Columbus expertly opened up the stage production, giving a superb cast plenty of room to roam and dream. Six original cast members returned, but newcomer Rosario Dawson stole the show as an HIV-positive heroin addict and exotic dancer.

10. "The Devil's Rejects" - Many will scoff, but Rob Zombie's ruthless throwback to 1970s thrill-kill exploitation shamed every horror movie since then. A more grotesque barrage of violence is hard to imagine, almost as much as the exhilaration Zombie urges viewers to feel. Not as much of a guilty pleasure as you may think. Now available on DVD.

Honorable mention, in no particular order: The 40-Year-Old Virgin; Hustle and Flow; Mad Hot Ballroom; Grizzly Man; North Country; Sin City; Broken Flowers; Paradise Now; Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Male actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote. (Runner-up: Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain.)

Female actor: Felicity Huffman, Transamerica, scheduled for release in the bay area Jan. 20. (Runner-up: Charlize Theron, North Country.)

Male supporting actor: Barry Pepper, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. (Runner-up: Clifton Collins Jr., Capote.)

Female supporting actor: Rosario Dawson, Rent. (Runner-up: Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain.)

[Last modified December 28, 2005, 09:18:06]