Review of Scoop (2006) by Random V — 13 Dec 2017

The fourth Scarlett Johansson film for my review list this December. In SCOOP's goofy-sounding premise Allen takes us out of New York, to Britain, and then straight into the afterlife. This breezy murder mystery has much more humor than murder, mystery, or romance. It's a comedy more than anything, bordering on satire, though it's Allen's character who handles all the comedy and the entire film's anxiety. "My anxiety acts like aerobics," he says. The first and second acts have laugh-out-loud moments. The backgrounds were used smartly, and the audience needs to pay attention when the characters are moving quickly, but the sets are not as immersive as they could've been. It has enough components to keep interest, but doesn't seem to have enough of one or more thing to make it refreshing or great, and kind of leaves an impression it's not much of anything. Sondra and Peter's romance seems devoid of actual romance, and maybe that's the point of it ... ? Two preoccupied characters, one trying to solve a mystery, another an elite aristocrat, simply attracted to one another's features and status. Even when the characters are missing characterization, Allen, Johansson, Jackman, and McShane, and a little Charles Dance (though I kept expecting some Lannister ruthlessness, even if this was pre-GoT) all carry the whole film. And all the perplexed looks from the supporting characters when Sid is talking is great.

What this movie does do, somehow, is work as an odd preview for THE PRESTIGE.