I’ve often heard Woody Allen described as an “acquired taste” among film buffs, which I guess means that his “genius” isn’t always readily apparent. I wouldn’t know about that since I’ve only seen one Allen film as an adult — the 2005 crime drama Match Point, a movie that I liked well enough but wasn’t bowled over by. So I wasn’t thinking much of the acquired taste angle when I recently rented Scoop, an oversight that nearly came back to bite me in the rear end.
The main difference between Scoop and Match Point, in my eyes, is the fact that Allen actually appears in Scoop, while he stays behind the camera in Match Point. I quickly learned that I much prefer the latter arrangement!
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Sondra Pransky (played by Scarlett Johansson) is an American journalism student who is in London visiting friends. While there, she attends a magic show put on Sid Waterman (Allen), who performs under the stage name The Great Splendini.
After Sondra is chosen from the audience to participate in a particular trick that involves a box known as the Dematerializer, she sees the ghost of a dead journalist named Joe Strombel (Ian McShane). Strombel tells Sondra that he has the scoop of the decade for her: the Tarot card serial killer who’s been on the loose in London is actually Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), the son of an aristocrat.
Sondra is not quite sure how to make out what has happened, so she confides in Sid. Once she convinces him that she’s not actually crazy, the two team up to try to investigate Strombel’s tip. They arrange for Sondra to run into Peter at a private club, and things become even easier when Peter is smitten by Sondra at first sight.
From there, the rest of the film deals with Sondra and Sid’s attempts to learn more about Peter to find out if he could possibly be the Tarot card killer. Along the way, Sondra must try to prevent her growing feelings for Peter from obscuring her purpose as a journalist as she tries to verify Joe Strombel’s claims.
My Reaction: The first thing that pops into my head here is what a terrible actor I think Woody Allen is! I don’t know if that’s a common opinion since I don’t know anything about his work, but wow… he nearly ruined the entire picture for me! His stumbling, bumbling delivery was god-awful and had me gritting my teeth every time he appeared on screen. If this is par for the course for him, you can bet I’ll never watch another film in which he stars. Ugh.
That being said, I feel the opposite about Scarlett Johansson. She may not have the finest acting chops on the block, but she definitely has screen presence and personality, which helps draw me into whatever character she’s portraying. I enjoyed her work here, even though a majority of her scenes were with Allen. At this point, I’d probably see anything Johansson is in (and yes, I’m a straight woman!).
As for the film itself, I found it to be pretty decent. I mean, it wasn’t a hard-hitting mystery or a laugh-out-loud romantic comedy, but it was still entertaining. Sure, there were dumb moments, like when Peter didn’t make sure that Sondra actually drowned before calling the cops bobbies or when he “hid” the key to Betty’s apartment in the same place he kept the Tarot cards (why would he even still have the key? Why not get rid of it?); however, these lapses weren’t enough to diminish my enjoyment of the film as a whole.
Overall, Scoop is definitely watchable — if you can get past Woody Allen being in it. I give it 3 stars out of 5.
If you haven’t seen Annie Hall, which is generally regarded as Woody Allen’s magnum opus, I recommend at least giving it a chance. Watching him do his monologues in a movie like Scoop without having the background of his earlier films would be painful, I can imagine. He is definitely not a “good actor,” and when he has to interact with mainstream modern actors like Scarlett J., it feels very awkward and bizarre. But he is a good comedian, and I think his earlier films are a much better vehicle for him to demonstrate where his true talents lie. He needs to have the proper rapport with his co-stars, and Diane Keaton was perfect for him.
If you’re willing to give him more of a chance in films where he DOESN’T appear, check out Cassandra’s Dream and The Purple Rose of Cairo. Both very interesting movies with nary a hint of the thick glasses in them.
Liz, thanks for the bit of insight into Allen’s history. Annie Hall routinely appears on many “Great Movies” lists, so I probably should check it out at some point. I need some time to recover from seeing Allen on screen, though!
I’ve also heard good things about Purple Rose of Cairo, and since he doesn’t actually appear in that, maybe I’ll rent it in a couple of weeks.
I know that film legends attain that status for a reason, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been so dismissive of Allen’s work. But good Lord, he was annoying in Scoop!!!