‘Scoop’ should have been titled ‘Strangle’
There was a time when the opening of a Woody Allen film was a big deal. This was long before his Mia Farrow problems, long before his marriage to Soon-Yi, long before he became a caricature of the proverbial dirty old man.
It was back during the days when even Diane Keaton still had a career.
No longer. Allen has been making crappy films for so long that those of us who once respected him are tempted to overpraise anything he does that is even remotely funny.
Take, for example, “Scoop.” Just a year ago, Allen released a film that was a series of firsts: first film that he’d shot in London, first film in which he’d used Scarlett Johansson , first film since “Crimes and Misdemeanors” that was more murder mystery than mere comedy. It actually looked as if he’d reinvented himself.
“Scoop” proves that wrong. Sure, it stars Johansson, it’s set in London and it features a series of murders. But in all other respects, it’s warmed-over Allen.
It starts like “Broadway Danny Rose,” it has Allen doing the same act he’s been doing since he broken in doing standup comedy on television variety shows during the 1960s and he co-stars with a shapely young woman.
At least, at age 70, he’s finally stopped casting himself as the romantic lead. He now plays the father figure, in this case a second-rate magician (like second-rate agent Danny Rose) named the Great Splendini. He advises Johansson, a young journalism student who stumbles onto a series of murders that may have been committed by Hugh Jackman.
After “Match Point,” this is disappointing. And now, following “Scoop,” we might have expect something such as:
“Wrangle” – Allen plays the owner of a dude ranch who must help guide Scarlett Johansson through a two-week stay that, she hopes, will salve the heart broken by her two-faced lover (Kenneth Branagh).
“Spangle” – Allen plays the owner of a costume shop that equips a dance troupe, run by Meryl Streep and her daughter, played by … Scarlett Johansson, of course.
“Dangle” – Allen plays the head of a circus family of tightrope walkers, the most beautiful of whom, Scarlett Johansson, suffers from vertigo.
“Mangle” – Allen plays the owner of a plastic surgery firm who decides to increase the size of Scarlett Johansson’s breasts.
And so on. Whatever, as long as he casts some hot young thing his movies will still open.
* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Movies & More." Read all stories from this blog