Scoop
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Movie Reviews of Scoop
Movie Review: Enjoyable mystery/comedy with Scarlett Johansson
Summary: 4 Stars
"Scoop" is a mystery/comedy/romance written and directed by Woody Allen and released in 2006. Scarlett Johansson stars as Sondra Pransky, a geeky college journalist vacationing in England. She gets a tip from the ghost of a dead newsman (Ian McShane) on the identity of a local serial killer and proceeds to team up with bumbling magician Sid Waterman (Woody Allen); the tip leads them to the rich son of a prominent lord, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), with whom Sondra unintentionally starts to fall in love. Is Lyman the notorious killer or isn't he?
Although fantastical and somewhat goofy, "Scoop" is first and foremost a mystery and I did enjoy trying to figure out if Peter Lyman is the "Tarot Card killer." In the story we perceive Peter Lyman largely through the lens of Sondra, who is falling in love with the guy; hence, the viewer warms up to him and doesn't want him to be a notorious killer.
"Scoop" is a comedy but not in the laugh-out-loud sense of, say, "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"; it's mildly amusing, witty and fun but generally not knee-slapping funny, so if you're looking for the latter don't bother.
The three stars and their chemistry are a highlight. I enjoyed the team-up of Woody (Sid) & Scarlett (Sondra) and their surrogate father/daughter relationship. I knew when I saw "The Horse Whisperer" that Scarlett would grow up to be one of cinema's leading beauties, and so she is! Scarlett was 21 while filming "Scoop" and plays against type; and she does it quite well. The film is worth catching solely for her, just don't expect any raunch or t&a exploitation (although she does have a one-piece bathing suit scene and a nightie scene, which are both rather modest).
Hugh Jackman is a great modern masculine actor, of course, and he does fine here, although I couldn't help wondering if long metal claws would suddenly shoot out of his knuckles!
The London and English countryside locations are nice eyecandy.
The runtime is 96 minutes.
FINAL WORD: This is my first Woody Allen film so I'm not familiar with his répertoire and therefore can't compare "Scoop" with his other movies. With this in mind, "Scoop" is an enjoyable mystery/comedy highlighted by refreshing originality, a good cast with good chemistry and English locations. I admit that I didn't think I'd like the film during the first 25 minutes or so (I also admit that I mainly bought it for Scarlett Johnansson, who doesn't disappoint), but then I "caught a grip" on the vibe of the movie. The interactions between the three main characters, their story and the mounting mystery pulled me in and glued me until the end. I also enjoyed the creative zany elements (e.g. crossing the River Styx with the Grim Reaper and the reappearing ghost reporter) and the film's overall refreshing air.
In fact, for some strange reason I love "Scoop".
GRADE: B+ (I originally rated it "B" but this is one of those films you like more each time you view it; hence, the next time I see it I'll probably jump it up to A- and so on)
Movie Review: I was surprised by how charming I found this story to be
Summary: 4 Stars
Frankly, for me Woody Allen had become as pleasure long past his sell by date. However, I happened to catch this movie when flipping around and watched the rest of it and then caught the whole film at a later viewing. I liked it! No, it isn't a great film, but it is a delightful light entertainment.
Scarlett Johansson plays Sondra Pransky, a young, somewhat ditzy but earnest reporter for her college newspaper. She is in London visiting a wealth upper crust friend and staying with her family. We also learn that she has (as Woody Allen's character notes later) a problem with promiscuity. For example, when trying to get an interview with a big time movie producer who has no intention of telling her anything, all she comes away with is a hangover and an embarrassing story of being outwitted.
We also get to see a barge load of souls headed to the land of the departed engaging in the kind of idle conversation you might expect from the newly dead. A secretary tells a reporter that she knows who the Tarot Card Killer is. The reporter, Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) asks her how she would know that. She says that she noticed something about her boss's cufflinks and told someone about it over the phone, but she had hear a click on the line and suspected someone was listening. She notes that she was dead by that afternoon and suspected poison. Her boss is the millionaire son of a Lord, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) and Strombel is determined to not let such a story pass and slips off the barge to swim back towards the land of the living.
While attending a magic show by "The Great Splendini", Sondra gets selected to enter the "dematerializer" so she will disappear and then reappear as her molecules are agitated. While she is in the box, Strombel materializes and tells her that he knows she is a reporter and gives her the gist of the story before he is taken back. Sondra is confused, but does a web search of the key elements, goes back to tell the rightly skeptical Splendini (Woody Allen) and wants to get back in his box. Splendini lets her do it, but notes that he is really just Sid Waterman and he built the "dematerializer" and it is just plywood. Nothing happens while she is in the box, but after she steps out Strombel appears in a way that she and Sid can see and hear. Sid wants no part of it, but is drawn in. Sondra is convinced of Lyman's guilt and Sid is equally convinced of his innocence.
The rest of the story is how Sid and Sondra try to determine what is real and what is false about the story. Strombel makes a couple more short appearances to help a bit, but Sondra is also falling for the handsome and sensitive Peter Lyman and no longer believes he is the bad guy while Sid has flipped to becoming convinced of his guild.
Who is right, who is wrong, and how the story ends you should watch this charming little tale to find out. The dialogue has some with, charm, and the plot has a couple of nice twists along the way.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
Movie Review: 3.75 stars -- a predictable comic delight
Summary: 4 Stars
This version of "Scoop", which you won't confuse with the Herbert Lom version from many years ago, is a comic delight that mixes romance, murder, humor and mystery in a nicely-packaged production. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Woody Allen, Ian McShane and hunky Hugh Jackman.
Johansson goes against her femme fatale and/or wounded woman type as a college journalims student sleuthing the story of a serial murderer in London. Allen plays his signature comic role as a magician that forges a relationship with Johannson and aids her sleuthery. His script is essentially one liners with his unique spontaneity, as always, some of which leave you laughing while others merely amuse you. McShane, whom you may have seen in HBO's "Deadwood", is, ironically, a dead reporter that appears as a ghost from time to time to clue in the pair on how to solve the case. Jackman plays a hunky Brit of royal heritage that woos Johansson during her investigation and plays another role in the overall story.
This film moves quickly and breezily from scene to scene, never meandering or going into tangents, and always going forward in sprightly comic style. Its English scenery, including the neighborhood surrounding London's majestic Royal Albert Hall, where one of the murders takes place, add a lot to the film's aura.
The storyline is weak and cliche-ridden and nothing outside the comic elements of the script does anything to change this. But what most works most against this film is its predictability. There comes a point in the movie where Johansson and "father" Allen -- she at one point passes him off as her father -- have used tips and evidence to pin the murders on the obvious perp...but along comes another guy that confesses to them. It's clear to anyone with ears, eyes and a brain that's ever seen one of these movies what's going to transpire in the next 30 minutes and it all transpires just as you'd imagine.
Still, this is an enjoyable foray for an evening that will leave comedy fans feeling good when it's concluded...even if you can't remember anything that went on in the story. My greatest enjoyment was seeing Johansson play comedy, something I'd not seen before from this wonderful actress. She is a remarkably effective foil to Allen's consistently humorous one liners and their scenes together are the best part of this movie. Women will no doubt enjoy the various scenes of Jackman as he romances the female lead.
In the final analysis, this effective comedy transcends mundane material through the magnetism of its stars and the chemistry Johansson and Allen create in their scenes, where they are uniformly wonderful. While hardly a great film with almost no intellectual value, "Scoop" is marvelously entertaining and is one of the swiftest-moving comedies I've seen since "Love Stinks." I'd recommend you buy, rent or borrow this DVD if you identify with anything I've said herein or if you are attracted by Amazon's summary.
Movie Review: Great movie that combines comedy and astute suspense!
Summary: 4 Stars
I found "Scoop" to be a very charming, amusing movie that simultaneously (and ingeniously) combines elements of comedy, suspense, and maturity of script and plot. This is a great film in the tradition of Woody Allen and an excellent way for a new generation to be introduced to his movies.
Scarlett Johanssen plays Sondra Pransky, a college student who pursues a career in journalism after foregoing her former ambition of becoming a dental hygienist. The movie contains a good deal of well-placed comments having to do with teeth and dental hygiene, which I personally found very cute and original (I mean, who doesn't like quirky comments about teeth)? She goes to a magic show where the great "Splendini" (Allen) has her help him with a magic trick. She enters a box where she encounters a deceased reporter who gives her a scoop on a well-to-do British man, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman). The deceased reporter indicates that he believes Lyman to be the "Tarot card killer."
Sondra talks the great "Splendini" / Sid Waterman into helping her investigate Lyman, but in the process falls in love with him, and even though there is some mounting evidence against him, neither believes he is the killer. Hugh Jackman, I must say, is very charming in this movie. I would not believe that this adorable man with a British accent would be capable of killing anyone either. Of course, you must watch the movie yourself to find out whether this debonair man is a killer or not!
I therefore highly recommend this movie. You will be in suspense and second-guessing right up until the end. You really can't go wrong with a Woody Allen movie. Have a great day, everyone!
Denise C. Floyd, author of "Tales from the Boudoir"
Girl With a Pearl Earring
The Horse Whisperer
Manhattan
Annie Hall
Tales from the Boudoir
The Shaga Blageek Poetry Packet: Selected Poems: 2001-2008
Movie Review: Good fun. Classic Woody Allen with a few extra twists
Summary: 4 Stars
The story begins when the Great Splendini (Woody Allen aka Sid Waterman) performs a magic trick on Scarlett Johansson's character, Sondra Pransky (an American journalism student spending the summer with her wealthy British friend in London). The magic trick goes awry and brings back the spirit of a recently deceased, well-known journalist (played by the great Ian McShane of Deadwood fame) with "the scoop of the century." The thing is, he discovers the scoop, involving a serial killer (the tarot card killer), on his way to the hereafter directly from one of the killer's victims and not being able to break the story himself, manages to get messages to Sondra through the magical talents of Splendini. It turns out that this particular victim was poisoned because she was about to blow the whistle on the killer who just happened to be the son of a British Lord. The son is Peter Lyman, played by Hugh Jackman. I won't say anything more about the story because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't already seen it. There are some interesting twists as Scarlett and Woody try to break the story as a faux father/daughter combo.
That said, I thought the casting was so good because it went against stereotypes: Hugh Jackman as a bad guy (yes, one CAN be handsome AND evil all at the same time) and Scarlett Johansson as a nerdier version of herself. Woody was classic Woody (but you just don't mess with that). I felt that this film showed Woody evolving. Perhaps some people were disappointed because they are accustomed to Woody a certain way - the old way - when Diane Keaton was a regular in his films. But you have to give the guy credit for stepping out of the box and asking his actors to do the same. I think some people might have been disappointed too with Scarlett in a not so glamorous role but I found that I liked her better because of it. People get too comfortable with directors/actors/writers doing similar projects over and over that they end up feeling let down if the director/actor/writer does something new or different. Change is good though.
This is a perfect movie to see if you feel like laughing until you hurt. When I saw it in the theatre, the noise level (laughing) got so loud that it was, at times, difficult to hear some of the dialogue. Every so often, you need a film that is just plain entertaining and fun - even over the top as this one is at times. Recommend.