It’s official: Scarlett Johanssen is not just a pretty face and a gorgeous bod. The girl can act, and in Scoop, she demonstrates the comic timing and low-key delivery of a pro. As Sondra, an American journalism student holidaying in London and staying with the posh family of her friend, she attends a magic show hosted by a visiting American magician (Allen as Sid Waterman, aka The Great Splendini).

Picked from the audience to participate in a disappearing act, Sondra finds herself in an empty box, only to be confronted by the ghost of freshly-deceased investigative journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) who has temporarily escaped Death (by slipping away from a taciturn soul-ferrying Grim Reaper) to offer this scoop: the aristocrat Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) may well be the Tarot Card Serial Killer who has been terrorizing London’s brunettes.

With help from her friend, Sondra manages to meet Lyman, a good-looking hunk who oozes sex appeal and who could not possibly be a killer. But being an ambitious budding journalist, Sondra ‘investigates’ (showing very dodgy ethics and morals, not to mention a complete lack of common sense, by sleeping with the guy at the drop of a hat). Sid tags along, trying to stop her from a potentially dangerous mission. But as Sondra begins to fall in love with Lyman, she finds it more and more difficult to believe that he could be a killer. Worried for her safety (in a fatherly sort of way, thank the gods), Sid undertakes some investigation of his own. Will he unearth any really incriminating evidence? And if so, will he convince Sondra in time?

Er, no, the plot’s not the draw here, that’s pretty much obvious from the start. It’s Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of Sondra, not the brightest journalism student you could wish for, but certainly earnest and engaging, and attractive in an awkward, dressed-down sort of way. Even Allen plays second fiddle to his find, though the best one-liners are his to deliver in his trademark self-effacing, off-handed, throw-away manner. At a creaking 70 years of age, Allen is thankfully not as neurotic as before and is, mercifully, leaving the sex to the younger generation, while his jokes are the cleanest yet.

There are plot-holes aplenty to irritate the thinking crowd, but Scoop is not meant to tax your brain cells. It’s light entertainment, with the emphasis very much on the delivery rather than the substance. Perhaps it’s meant to whet your appetite for more of the same to come from one the most prolific American directors in recent times. The best things in Scoop are Johanssen’s performance, Allen’s one-liners, and truly, very little else. With its engaging light-heartedness, Scoop is an amusing and mildly diverting flick that should appeal to both fans of Scarlett Johanssen and even those of Woody Allen.

Recommended if you’re in the mood for something very, very light.
















Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day