"Scoop" is not a great Woody
Allen movie; it’s not a great reporter movie, either. But this
good-natured confection is more likely to please moviegoers than
most other entries in this summer’s never-ending parade of high-octane
blockbusters, most of which are re-treads of familiar material.
A lightweight, fish-out-of-water comedy written and directed
by the Flatbush native, "Scoop" is about a wide-eyed,
Brooklyn-born journalism student (Scarlett Johansson) who, while
visiting friends in London, has the good fortune to stumble on
the identity of a Jack-the-Ripper-type serial killer, thanks
to the ghost of a recently deceased newsman, played by "Deadwood"
star, Ian McShane.
Since this is a Woody Allen film, viewers won’t be too surprised
with the silly conceit that the ghost makes his scintillating
revelation while the girl is in a box helping a stage magician
(Allen) perform a disappearing trick. Allen and Johansson then
pose as a father and daughter from Brooklyn and insinuate themselves
into upper crust English society in a clumsy attempt to identify
the killer and launch the cub reporter’s nascent career.
Of course, Allen’s character is immediately embraced by the Brits
who find his American wit and old-fashioned card tricks endlessly
amusing, while Johansson’s "refreshingly" forward demeanor
snags her a dashing aristocrat, played by "X-Men" hero
Hugh Jackman, sans his Wolverine blades.
"Scoop" would probably fare better with critics and
moviegoers if it hadn’t been the auteur’s follow-up to last year’s
Oscar-nominated drama, "Match Point," a razor-sharp
study of relationships between friends and lovers of different
cultural heritages and social classes. Like "Scoop,"
"Match Point" was set in modern-day London, starred
Johansson in a leading role and ended in murder.
However, the 2005 film raised expectations, perhaps unfairly,
that Allen had returned to the former greatness he exhibited
with his movies "Annie Hall," "Hannah and Her
Sisters," "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Crimes
and Misdemeanors." "Scoop" does not live up to
those expectations and is more in the vein of his recent, lesser
works like "Small-Time Crooks" and "Hollywood
Ending."
The film also does not offer the kind of acute observations about
the differences between the British and Americans that "Match
Point" does, but to be fair, it isn’t really meant to. "Scoop"
is a completely different type of movie, more concerned with
entertaining us, than offering social commentary.
And, although it does have dozens of great lines, the Midwood
High School graduate greedily bestows most of them upon his own
character, leaving the audience to wish Allen had been a little
more generous to his co-stars. That said, he and Johansson are
fun to watch as bumbling, undercover reporters and one can’t
help but be grateful Allen doesn’t try to make Johansson his
love interest in this film; in fact, he even pokes fun of the
age difference between the 21-year-old actress and Jackman, her
older leading man.
Which brings us to the biggest problem with the film: the casting
of Johansson as the ingénue. So good in "Match Point"
as a seductive American actress who wreaks havoc in the lives
of a wealthy British family, Johansson has shown she can hold
her own with film icons like Robert Redford and John Travolta
in dramas and has shown a knack for subtle humor in comedies
like "Lost in Translation" and "In Good Company."
Unfortunately, from looking at "Scoop," it is clear
that Johansson’s talent lies in playing the "old souls"
and young women mature beyond their years from her previous films,
and she does not have that same instinct for broad comedy; either
that or Allen kept directing her to go "bigger," in
which case, the error is his because it doesn’t work.
Although she definitely seems game for the role, Johansson comes
across as manic and immature and it’s hard to believe that Jackman’s
character would be so enchanted by her or that a well-respected
British newspaper would take her seriously enough to print her
story. It is not, however, difficult to believe she is somehow
related to Allen’s character since they have such terrific on-screen
chemistry.
Another sticking point is that, during the course of the 96-minute
film, she also sleeps with two of the subjects of her articles,
a move that does not convince us she is a serious journalist
– or a naïve young woman.
All in all, "Scoop" is not the Woody Allen movie or
reporter movie many would hope for, but filmgoers will enjoy
it more than such disappointing "event" movies as "Poseidon,"
"The Omen" and "Click."
"Scoop" opens July 28 at the
Cobble Hill Cinemas (265 Court St. at Douglass Street). For times
and ticket prices, call (718) 596-9113.
