"Scoop" Movie Review

[Otto]

I watched Scoop with my wife the other night. All in all a good movie. I've really enjoyed the Woody Allen movies I've seen, and this was more of the same. I bet it's either a love-it or hate-it kind of thing, but I really like his comedic timing and his neuroses.

The stars are Allen, Scarlet Johansson, Hugh Jackman and Ian McShane. I didn't even realize Johansson and Jackman were the stars until I just looked it up on IMDB. My wife is much better at recognizing famous faces than I. And Ian McShane is just always "Al Swearingen" from "Deadwood" for me, so I recognized him, of course.

Anyway, this movie is about a young reporter that gets a "scoop" story via

Spoiler

the ghost of the recently departed

Joe Strombel (McShane). She then proceeds to insert herself into the life of the prime suspect, a well-to-do socialite/politician's son, in a effort to see if he's really the killer

Spoiler

(he is, and I knew it! I've seen a few WA movies where "the guy" actually turns out to be "the guy". No weird M. Night Shamalamalalayyalaan twists at the end...

Allen himself portrays a goofball magician who inadvertently becomes Sondra Pransky's (Johansson) sidekick.

All in all, this was a fun and funny movie, as it should be. After watching Woody Allen's "Sleeper" (1973, and just plain nutty-stupid), my wife was cool to more Allen flicks. But this one perked her up, and we're looking forward to watching "Match Point."

Video was average and audio was standard Woody-Allen-mono (or perhaps it was 2.0; either way, definitely nothing to write home about). The only good thing to Allen's audio choice is that I don't have to get up and turn on the amp for the rear channels.

3.875/5.0 -- watch it for a laugh.

[wbassett]

My wife rented this one awhile back and it is enjoyable but not one I personally would watch over and over.

If you like Woody Allan movies you'll like this one.

I thought the plot was a cute twist on things and it was fun to watch. I couldn't believe how tiny Scarlet is though, in the pool scene when Hugh gets out of the water and is standing next to her, she looks like a little kid compared to Jackman.

We thought it was light hearted enough that the plot didn't take itself too seriously which makes you able to just sit back and have some fun.