Archive for August 3rd, 2006

When I heard Woody Allen and Scarlett Johansson were teaming up for two movies, I was elated. Maybe using one of America’s best young actresses (with a downright charismatic screen presence to boot) would help revive Allen’s creaky filmmaking. So, two movies have come and gone. What’s the final score?

First, there was Match Point. Despite its staggering praise, it was a plodding retelling of the superior Crimes and Misdemeanors. Now we have Scoop starring Johansson as an American journalism student who investigates a murder in London, acting on the tip of a deceased journalist (Ian McShane, TV’s Deadwood). Allen plays a third-rate magician who helps Johansson get closer to the hunky British aristocrat (Hugh Jackman) she suspects of murdering numerous prostitutes.

Scoop resembles earlier Allen movies like Manhattan Murder Mystery and Small Time Crooks–breezy, amiable fare long on scenic urban locales but short on belly laughs. Allen still gives you a time-worn formula and expects you to be thrilled by association, whether it’s a brownstone crisis among uptown denizens or literate tomfoolery. (Forget about slapstick; that went out with disco.) Allen does nothing fresh with these scenarios, like how Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo continually re-invent the plights of broken-hearted guys and small-town losers, respectively.

Johansson is the victim of bad timing and maybe bad advice. Her buoyant personality and smoky charm are bottled in favor of nervous mannerisms reminiscent of Allen’s former lover and co-star Mia Farrow, which wouldn’t be a bad thing if Farrow wasn’t in her late thirties when she began her long-running gig. Allen does his famous stammering routine, only here it’s so pronounced that it sounds like he’s having trouble recalling his lines. Also, his cheesy entertainer act runs very thin very quickly. Jackman, sans killer sideburns, and McShane, sans expletives and cool mustache, do provide able support.

Scoop is a pleasant diversion, but it’s an annoying one if you’ve seen Allen’s movies; it feels like more of the same thing only set in London. The constant presence of Johansson also makes you realize the squandered possibilities. She was born too late, while Allen’s last chance for cinematic rejuvenation may have passed him by.

Note: For those interested in finding out why Woody Allen is considered one of the best American directors ever, check out any of these movies:Annie Hall, Manhattan, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex, but Were Afraid to Ask, Bananas, Love and Death, Husbands and Wives, Hannah and Her Sisters.

Rating: **1/2 (out of four)

MPAA Rating: PG-13