"Scoop": Woody's on a roll, but Scarlett steals this show
Another one? Already? Wasn't "Match Point" just in theaters, seemingly mere moments ago? Yes, Woody Allen, perhaps the hardest-working septuagenarian in the movie business, has another one out.
The good news is, it's much better than "Anything Else," "Small Time Crooks" and most of the other comedies he's been churning out lately. The bad news is, it isn't "Match Point." Ah, well; wait a few months, and he'll probably make another one. In the meantime, "Scoop" will suit Allen fans just fine.
A bouncy comedy/mystery about a young would-be journalist (Scarlett Johansson) trying to solve a crime, "Scoop" owes a great deal to Allen's 1993 charmer "Manhattan Murder Mystery." Both feature a pair of nonprofessional detectives, composed of a reluctant Allen and his enthusiastic female partner, solving an urban murder, and both find their appeal in the bantering Nick-and-Nora chemistry between the duo. In "Manhattan Murder Mystery," the sparkling female half was longtime Woody pal Diane Keaton; here, it's his latest muse, Johansson, who also starred in "Match Point."
Let me rush to point out, before readers' eyebrows zoom sky-high, that the 20ish Johansson and Allen are not romantically linked in this film. Instead, her character Sondra is drawn to an elegant London aristocrat named Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), who may or may not be a suspect in a series of murders. Allen plays a shticky magician known as Splendini, whom Sondra enlists in the investigation after she gets a tip-off from a dead reporter (Ian McShane) during Splendini's show. (There are quite a few verbose dead people in this movie, including a delicious cameo from a bitter, prematurely bumped-off Fenella Woolgar.)
Splendini and Sondra pose as father and daughter to infiltrate Lyman's life. Allen does card tricks at Lyman's parties while Johansson snoops around, knowing that the host is distracted. Things come to a head in an elegant third-act finale, in which the use of the "Swan Lake" score over the opening credits becomes clear.
Much of the plot and dialogue will feel very familiar to Allen watchers, particularly the one-liners and the kvetchy character of Splendini. Part of what made "Match Point" work so well was its unexpectedness. In its tight character drama, you could easily forget that you were watching a Woody Allen movie; the director, in his familiar persona, did not appear onscreen. As an actor, Allen is mostly one-note, and while he's often funny here, we've heard the note before. But he finds a nice chemistry with Johansson, who seems to spark some new energy in him. If "Scoop" is his last appearance onscreen, it's a worthy swan song.
And Johansson, giving a performance miles away from her sultry femme fatale in "Match Point," scoops up "Scoop" and strolls away with it. Her Sondra (who identifies herself to Lyman with the hilarious fake name "Jade Juilliard Spence") is very young and sweetly gawky; she even snorts when she laughs. It's a charmer of a performance that wouldn't be out of place in a '30s screwball comedy. Blinking behind her round glasses, she's Carole Lombard crossed with Nancy Drew.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
"Scoop," with Woody Allen, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ian McShane. Written and directed by Allen. 96 minutes. Rated PG-13 for some sexual content. Several theaters.