Theatrical Release Date:2006 Release Date:November 21, 2006 Availability:Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Editorial Reviews:
Product Description An american journalism student in london scoops a big story & begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls. Studio: Uni Dist Corp. (mca) Release Date: 01/27/2009 Starring: Scarlett Johansson Woody Allen Run time: 96 minutes Rating: Pg13 Director: Woody Allen
Amazon.com Light and charming, Scoop blends murder, ghosts, and falling in love. While inside of a magician's magic cabinet, aspiring journalist Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation) is visiting by the ghost of a dead reporter (Ian McShane, Deadwood) who has gotten a hot tip in the afterlife: A rising young politician named Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman, X-Men) may be the notorious serial killer who leaves tarot cards by his victims. With the magician (writer-director Woody Allen) in tow, Sondra sneaks her way into Lyman's life--and, despite increasing evidence that the tip is true, finds herself falling in love with him. Scoop is stronger than Allen's last film, the overrated Match Point; moment to moment, scene to scene, it's his most zippy and entertaining movie in years. It still suffers from laziness--Allen seems unwilling to look at the plot's holes and find a way to sew them up--and Allen's own persona, with his now-rote comic stutterings and hesitations, drags on the film's momentum. Despite this, Scoop has flashes of suspense and wit that, in an unknown filmmaker, would be cause for celebration. Also featuring Charles Dance (White Mischief) and Romola Garai (I Capture the Castle), one of the few actresses who can compete with Johansson in lusciousness. --Bret Fetzer
Waiting for it to end or for Woody Allen to stop mumbling...November 23, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay. Woody Allen's character ruins the movie. I know that's not the "popular thing to say" because many of Woody Allen's movies are wonderful but if I had to listen through him stuttering through his words for one more second, I was going to hang myself. I didn't even watch the end... I was too frusterated...
What Have I Missed Here?November 10, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had to give up on this movie 30 minutes into it, which is upsetting, considering I paid over $10 for a movie I lost interest in after the first 5 minutes. I totally agree with some of the other reviews, which indicated disappointment in Woody Allen's using the same old shtick for his own character. But I was also disappointed in Scarlett Johansen's portrayal, as I found it flat and almost uncomfortable.
If you are intent on seeing "Scoop", I would recommend renting it, if you can still find it in a rental store.
UnderratedSeptember 17, 2008 Even third rate Allen is a few notches funnier than the best dreck Hollywood offers, and all Allen films get better with successive viewings. This tale- a bit over an hour and a half, uses several key themes in the Allen canon- sex, deceit, lies, murder, and magic, and also has much in common with 1993's underrated Manhattan Murder Mystery, his terrific 1984 film, Broadway Danny Rose- perhaps his best straight comedy, and some of 1989's Oedipus Wrecks- from the New York Stories trilogy film Allen did with Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Johansson plays Sondra Pransky, a college student in England who is studying journalism. She is selected out of the audience by the Great Splendini (Allen), whose real name is Sid Waterman. What works well is that Johansson is a very good comedienne, and much more believable in this role than her role as the bitchy siren in Match Point. Unlike many other Woody persona stand-ins of the last twenty years, she handles his humor without aping the Woody persona (see John Cusack in Bullets Over Broadway, Kenneth Branagh in Celebrity, or Will Ferrell in Melinda And Melinda), and may be the best Allen comedienne after Diane Keaton.... So, when you read negative reviews of this film, which might compare it to some of his decidedly lighter weight comedies like Small Time Crooks (which was still funnier than a Wayans family film), do not believe it. Scoop is a good movie- a very good movie, and in her second pairing with Allen, Scarlett Johansson proves that while she may never be the sex symbol/screen siren type in the Angelina Jolie/Halle Berry/Catherine Zeta-Jones mold, she can do comedy the way none of them can. And, since few have ever done comedy equal to or better than Allen, I predict an Oscar for her in the very near future- and, for a change, she may be the rare starlet who'll deserve such kudos. As for Allen? Now with his Woody persona killed, one can only hope that the behind the scenes Allen will concentrate more on screenplays in the Match Point vein, and produce a few latter-day gems to bookend such Golden Era fare as Stardust Memories, Radio Days, and Crimes And Misdemeanors. And if Johansson is in a few, so much the better, for an Annie Hall for a younger generation could never be considered a bad thing.
Back to BasicsSeptember 16, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It is certainly hard to believe that Woody Allen has been creating films for over a generation - the mind boggles at the extent of his entire body of work. There isn't a filmmaker out there one could say has hit the mark every time, and Allen isn't an exception. His last serious film, Match Point, had mixed reviews as most of Allen's non-comedic films do, however the dialogue was truly excellent and the ending quite ruthless. In a word, one of his latest projects, Scoop, is a gem. The jokes are non-stop which had my friend and I (who isn't an Allen fan) laughing out loud from beginning to end.
It has been said and written many times before that you are either a Woody Allen fan or not...this may be true, though Scoop could just well make a few converts because the film is light, very funny with an entertaining plot, where one can sit back and have a good time without having to think too much.
Scarlett Johansson does an excellent job as the 'student' reporter, called upon by a dead newsman to investigate one of London's most notorious serial killers, the "Tarot Card Killer". Scarlett revealed in this film that she is a good, if not great, comedic actor; between Allen and her, each scene gets better and better. Their exchange of lines runs fast (sometimes in staccato fashion) and you have to pay attention to catch the various subtlties - comedy is all about timing, and their timing was close to perfect.
Hugh Jackman (Peter Lyman) as the English aristocrat, was played with charm, and the actor has shown his fans that he can play just about anything he puts his mind to - a great actor.
The ending of the story tied it all up: surprising, funny with a subtle twist.
Scoop is Woody Allen going back to basics - witty and hilarious.
A firm five stars.
It's like half a movie...August 25, 2008 I will attest to the fact that I did not expect anything more than a passing good time walking into `Scoop', although I was hoping for more. I got what I expected and so for that I am thankful. Regardless of the bad reviews it received upon it's release, `Scoop' has a lot going for it (not the least of which is Johansson's comedic timing) and while it does not stack up to Allen's previous `Match Point' (how anyone can say that `Match Point' is overrated is beyond me when it's lack of a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars proves it is nothing short of underrated) it offers the audience a fun and quirky good time.
The film follows young aspiring journalist Sondra Pransky who winds up getting the tip of a lifetime from the deceased reporter Joe Strombel while attending a magic show starring the Great Splendini (also known as Sid Waterman). The dead Strombel proceeds to tell Pransky that a young politician named Peter Lyman may in fact be the feared tarot card serial killer. This proves to be the big break that Pransky was waiting for, and so with Waterman in toe she proceeds to infiltrate Lyman's life in order to uncover the truth, a truth that becomes more and more difficult for her to see once her infatuation for Lyman starts to blind her better judgment.
`Scoop' suffers in one key area, and that is plot. In the end the film feels incomplete, like half a movie. You leave feeling as if Woody forgot a big chuck of the film on the cutting room floor. The script work, dialog wise, for the most part is pretty strong, but the plot holes ware on the viewer as the film draws to a close.
What it lacks in plot development it makes up for in the sublime casting choices. Hugh Jackman is superb as Peter Lyman. He is charming and debonair and extremely handsome (maybe more so than he's ever been since I've never thought him attractive, but he pulls it off here). His portrayal of Lyman is spot on, making it easy to see why Pransky is falling so hard for him. Better still is the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Sondra. Johnasson is proving one film at a time that she has the chops to handle a film all her own, and here she expands her talent to cover comedy as well. Her bantering with Woody is flawless, and she matches his wit step for step, frame for frame; in fact she out-wits him many times, handling her dialog with crisper, funnier delivery. Woody Allen works most of the time, but as the film continues onward his character borders on annoying (that whole "I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I love you, you're a beautiful person" bit gets old fast).
While Ian McShane does not give a bad performance, I will say that his character is the biggest plot hole. A film that hinges on a tip given by a ghost you would think would make that ghost seem important or vital but in the end his character is very throwaway and could have ultimately been left out.
Woody needs to work on that.
In then end I will say that `Scoop' met my expectations. It did not exceed them, but then again not every movie needs to do that. Scarlett is a revelation as Sondra, funny and witty and charming and she proves that she does not need to rely on her sensuality to sell a film for she tones herself down drastically and plays Pronsky with just as much ease and comfort as she did Nola Rice. The dialog is sharp (for the most part) and the pacing is brisk, it just suffers from being too light in the end, losing some of its depth in the holes throughout the plot.
If you want a satisfying comedy than `Scoop' may just do the trick, but if you want a more intelligent and tightly woven film then look at Allen's previous effort `Match Point' (or even the tragically under seen `Melinda and Melinda').
