Review of Scoop (2006) by Meara L — 18 Jul 2009

A very dissapointing outing from Allen in nearly all regards. Here he takes a very interesting concept, brilliant cast and his usual observational humour and turns out something merely watchable, and only just. The narrative here is thin and really seems to only exist as a method of stringing some jokes together. The characters and possible plot points are for the most part completely ignored in favour of seeing Allen and his new muse perform his trademark shtick. Usually this would be forgivable as this shtick is what got Allen famous not his deep writing ability, however here even his jokes let him down.

He fails miserably to deliver the punch lines, most of which would have fallen flat regardless, and overplays his unique oratory to the point of aggravation all for a cheap laugh. There is definitely some imagination at play and I will admit Allen's quip that road rules were the only difference between him being the hero and dead was reminiscent of better times. The rest of the film leading up to that however was sorely lacking, though Jackman and McShane did what they could admirably.