August 5, 2006

The Scoop: Woody Allen delivers in his second film based in London

Scoop, a murder-mystery genre film, is set in London. A Robert Altman film this is not but if you are willing to accept the absurdity of the movie's premises, you will enjoy this movie.

The movie begins by introducing us to two journalists at opposite ends of their careers. The movie opens up at the funeral of Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), an ace reporter. His colleagues give a toast in his honor and speak highly of his penchant for breaking major news stories.

Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson) is an American journalism student with a dream of making it big in investigative journalism. While visiting her friend in London, she meets a British celebrity and wants to write a story on him for her college newspaper. Not only does the celebrity seduce her into sleeping with him but as Sondra anguishes to her friend later, she didn't even make use of her attraction to get the interview.

These two characters are brought together at a magic show of Sid Waterman (Woody Allen), (better) known as Splendini. Wait, you say! Isn't Joe Strombel dead? Hmmm, yeah, but ghosts exist right? There are different interpretations of what happens to us after our death. After someone dies, this movie contends, they are taken on a boat ride in small groups by the Grim Reaper for eternity. The scenery reminds you of a dark night in a Charles' Dickens novel (imagine Great Expectations). On such a boat ride, Joe strikes conversation with a young woman, who had recently died of mysterious circumstances. She suspects her employer Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) is the tarot card serial killer and had in fact poisoned her to keep her from revealing the secret. Peter is the son of Lord Lyman and if this allegation turns out to be true, Joe realizes that the story would be a sensation. While he won't be able to investigate the case himself (with him being in the clutches of the Grim Reaper), he wants to pass his tip onto another reporter while he momentarily escapes from the Grim Reaper.

After Joe appears to Sondra briefly at Sid's show, she believes this is the moment that she had been waiting for - a chance to show her dedication for her work. She prods Sid to tag along her as they try to find out if Peter is the tarot card serial killer. The rest of the movie is about how Sondra and Sid get closer to Peter to try to get clues that would implicate Peter as the serial killer.

One of the funny moments in the movie occurs when Sondra and Sid spend time with Peter and Allen privately admonishes Johannson for suspecting Peter of being the serial killer by saying that Peter doesn't even look like someone who would kill one person. Maybe you didn't find it funny but with the delivery, trust me, it is funny.

The movie has a lot of zany one-liners typical for a character played by Allen. There are some jokes that lose the audience but most hit the mark. I would not say any of the acting is above the mark but the strength of Woody Allen's movies is the writing. In that regard, the movie is a success.

P.S.: This movie is pure fiction, in case any reader has doubts. Just like how many Indian movies now have a disclaimer at the start of the movie confirming that the movie is not based on any real person, I think English movies (and perhaps even movie trailers) should start carrying such disclaimers. :P

Posted by kjagasiv at August 5, 2006 11:59 AM