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Title: Scoop
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is some mild language and sexuality. Recommended for ages 12 and up. |
It’s always frustrating to watch a film like “Scoop” and feel that the film is not only beneath you, but beneath the film makers as well. The film is written, directed, and staring Woody Allen. This is a man who has written some of the best dialog for some of the best comedies and dramas in the world. A man like him doesn’t make blockbuster films, but he gets to make them because they come in cheap and normally recoup their costs. So since Allen is less concerned with budget then he is story and characters it’s all the more baffling when something like “Scoop” is released in the first place. The story: A young journalist named Sondra (Scarlett Johansson) gets a visit from a ghost informing her of a big story (otherwise known as a scoop...get it?).
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The ghost is a former journalist named Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), who tips her off that he knows who the famous Tarot Card Killer. He was on the verge of releasing the story when...yep, the Tarot Card Killer didn’t like that idea. Funny enough this confrontation between Sondra and Joe takes place in a box during a magic show performance of Sid Waterman (Woody Allen), which is the only reason a neurotic New Yorker is in this film in the first place. Ah, but the suspected killer is Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) who is just the most attractive, gentle, sweet man to ever walk...you know what, I can’t go on. I can just see my readers rolling their eyes and piecing together the movie already.
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It’s not even that I’m writing a spoiler filled review. All you have to do is read a paragraph of the story description and you just know where this is all going. The characters are all boring cardboard cutouts here to fulfill their purpose in the screenplay. The only entertaining character is Allen’s Sid. Yeah, I know, he’s EXACTLY like all the other neurotic Jews that Allen plays, but at least he still has some funny lines! When Sandra sleeps with Peter she tells Sid over coffee, to which he asks “so did this result in anything other then a potential pregnancy?” Crude, but funny. Oh shoot, did I just revel that the main character sleeps with the potential dangerous gorgeous man?
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Oh well, chances are you saw that coming anyway. The movie also tries to mess around with some strange supernatural effects, but it’s pretty clear that Allen doesn’t work well with CGI. In fact the movie is so basic, boring, and rudimentary that I’m surprised Allen even bothered to finish the script in the first place. A perfectionist like him must have seen that this was a snoozer in the making. Was the opportunity to work with Johansson again just too much of a good offer to pass up? Never mind, I won’t go there. Bottom line: It’s hard to believe the man who made “Annie Hall” and “Match Point” reduced himself to this. It’s not a train wreck per se, but this movie titled “Scoop” is probably on target. Just scoop this movie up and dump it in the kitty litter box.
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