A Woody Allen film not up for the Best Comedy prize? Things sure have changed (as Allen moves from trademark New York to London), and the reception for this Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Rhys-Myers film has been terrific. Woody isn't acting in the movie (aww!) but that could be the very reason it is being hailed as his return to form.

The reviews: Match Point, if the critics are to be believed, is simply astounding. Everyone is convinced Allen's back, from A O Scott ('Allen's most satisfying film in more than a decade') to Richard Roeper ('Allen has crafted one of his strongest films in years') and Andrew Sariss ('wittier and more coherent than anything he has done in ages; it is well made and well thought out to its very last shot.')

Stephanie Zachariek is unimpressed, saying, '...from the casting to the dialogue, Match Point just feels pickled in artificiality.' While Gary Thompson of the Philadelphia Daily News cruelly writes 'Match Point moves Woody Allen to London, where we see if his increasingly dull ruminations on infidelity play any better with British accents.'

The one who seems to have hit the nail on the head this time is Peter Travers, as his Rolling Stone review reads, 'Allen evokes Dostoevsky and Dreiser, but don't expect justice from a shocker ending that manages to be devilishly clever and morally repugnant. It's been a long time since a Woody Allen film sparked juicy debate. Savour it.'

What is likely: Not many directors are as deft with a screenplay as Woody, but since when have glitzy award shows handed out prizes for cleverness? With all this 'comeback' buzz, however, we can realistically all be optimistic about (yes, really) a Best Director award.