A remarkable film from Wooden Allen. Have no idea this is Woody Allen's work. For one, it's set in England, not his beloved Manhattan. None of the characters is neurotic nor hypersensitive, and there's no self-deprecating humour. Good, solid acting from Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (of Bend-It-Like-Beckham fame) and Scarlett Johansson.First scene of the movie defines its central theme - a tennis ball going back and forth across the net. It hits the net and freezes in suspended animation. A voice-over comes on and describes how the ball's next action determines who wins the point. It's all about luck. Then we see Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), tennis pro tuned country club instructor, who becomes good friends with his pupil Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), scion of a wealthy family. Sharing Tom's love of the arts, Chris becomes a regular in the Hewett family events, and later on married Tom's sister Chloe.
To make things complicated, Chris falls for Tom's fiancee Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson), a struggling American actress (in reel life). Tom and Nola eventually broke up, and Chris didn't waste time in having an affair with Nola. He would skip office most days just to have some private time with Nola. Then, Nola (not Chloe) became pregnant. This is when things start getting stressful. Nola keeps bugging Chris to dump Chloe and marry her. Of course Chris has no intention of rocking the boat, but he leads her on until she give him the ultimatum - break the news to Chloe or she will. Chris knew it's time for action.
One day, Chris calls up Nola and tells her that everything has been settled and that she is to meet him at her flat after work. Chris steals his father-in-law's shotgun, goes to Nola's apartment building, and shoots her elderly neighbor in cold blood. He tears the place up and stole the lady's jewelry, and lies in wait. He hears Nola getting out of the elevator. He calls out her name, fires the shotgun, and exits. Would've been a perfect murder, but it turns out Nola kept a diary, and now the police are after him. Chris admits to the affair, and the police have no reason to think he'll murder Nola. As a precaution, Chris throws all the stolen jewelry into the river. As fate would have it, her wedding band hit an obstruction (in slow-motion), and ricochets back.
Now, the investigator goes to sleep that night, and for some reason, he dreamt how it all happened. The next day, he tells his angle to his partner. His partner didn't buy it, as they already got their man - a robber was shot last night and in his pocket, they found the old lady's wedding band. Chris is one lucky guy.
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