PREVIEW REVIEW: Scoop

Scoop – reviewed by John Hang

Woody Allen discovers life out of his New York City cesspool and rejuvenates himself in London, England. A 4 picture deal with BBC has persuaded Woody Allen to direct his first films out of New York with the first film being Match Point, and now Mr. Allen brings us the movie Scoop.
An American journalist receives the scoop of a lifetime from a dead journalist and falls in love with the person she is investigating.

STORY: Scarlett Johansson plays Sandra Pransky the American journalist who encounters a ghost during an act for Sid Waterman’s (Woody Allen) magician act. The story follows the pursuit of Sandra’s investigation into the claim that Peter Lyman, played by Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman is a serial killer at large. Sandra falls in love with Peter despite the disapproval of Sid who is assisting Sandra to find the truth. Scarlett Johansson is one of the hottest talents in Hollywood, but she falls stale for me in this film. Hugh Jackman gives one of the worst performances of an English aristocrat which questions whether Great Britain should purchase Australia back from China so they can imprison Wolverine. Woody Allen plays Woody Allen if he decided to be a Magician and his paranoia and sarcastic humor saves the bad decisions in casting. The story resembles a satirical parody of a film noir film which is quite fascinating, but there is a bias in this review for my positive approval of anything Woody Allen.
STYLE: the scenes of the dead journalist riding a fishing boat with the Grim Reaper are beautifully designed and subtlety hilarious. It clearly was done on a sound stage somewhere but the elements of everyone who had recently died riding a boat brought a chuckle every time it appeared. The film runs at 96 minutes and the music seems to add dimensions to a story that wasn’t completely executed. Not too many issues with the aesthetics because they never really tried anything adventurous. Woody has always maintained a focus on story rather than style, and the writing contained all the elements of all his films.
SUMMARY: I over exaggerate the performances but Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman did play their roles respectfully. Woody Allen steals the film, which is ironic because didn’t Woody write and direct this film? This is a good story of the lengths we take to further our careers and the obstacles and decisions we make to stipple that advancement. So there are 2 more films Woody Allen will be shooting in London, and I’ll be the 27th person in line for those films, until then wait for Scoop to be released on DVD and make it a priority to place Match Point on your list.