Review: Match (2014)

7th October 2015

From writer/director Stephen Belber comes the gripping and intense real-life drama Match; starring Patrick Stewart, Matthew Lillard and Carla Gugino.

We see a day in the life of Tobi Powell (Stewart) a seasoned professor of dance at Juilliard; except this is to be no ordinary day as he encounters Lisa (Gugino) & Mark Davis (Hillard) who claim to be researching for a dissertation turn out to have a hidden agenda with potentially huge implications.

Stewart’s performance here is Electric; an in your face and no-holes-bared tour-de-force which gives us a full frontal look into his characters psyche; however some may find it overplayed at times it is a delight to watch none the less. This is a real performance piece with very few scenes other than the interactions with the main ensemble (Tobi, Lisa & Mark) and the cast certainly rises to the challenged with Gugino providing a suitable female influence in the film. Lillard is perhaps the least interesting of the three but none the less delivers some great performances in some very difficult and gut-wrenching scenes. The writing here delves the whole range of the human experience and really allows Stewart to show off his talents if nothing else.

The film is well shot however the visual element is perhaps the least interesting aspect of this piece; it is however backed up an incredible score which ranges from subtle to more upbeat and is almost a character in itself.

5/5 – See this film; even if only for Stewart’s performance.

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