Scoop

A handsome, son of a lord (Hugh Jackman) is suspected of being a serial killer by a dead reporter (Ian Mc-Shane). The reporter sneaks back to the land of the living just long enough to inform a young college girl (Scarlett Johansson) who works on the school paper. As she goes to investigate, she alternately suspects him and falls in love with him. She is helped along in her investigation by a stage magician called Spendini (Woody Allen).

Admittedly, there are some pretty good sized holes in the plot. An inconsistency here and an imponderable there. However, this is a comedy, and the plot's gyrations, far from agravating the viewer lead him on a pleasant journey. We are treated with the mesmerizing, innocent, and straightforward charm of Scarlett Johansson who is both earnest and determined, albeit self-deceptive. Hugh Jackman is charming even when we believe he is a killer, he plays the part lightly so that we are not subject to the gut wrenching suspense that is so common in modern film. I was not tempted to go to the bathroom just to avoid seeing the bad guy inflict an unspeakable horror on one of the hero's family members.

In a way, this is remeniscent of murder mysteries of the old school, kind of Agatha Christie with a classic Woody Allen twist. I read several reviews of this film after I watched it on video. They were mainly negative. But I think this is because Woody Allen has been touted for so long as a genius that he cannot possibly live up to his own reputation. So he decides to make a light comedy-mystery? Because he diverges from the hyper-nonsense that passes for cinematography today the critics pound him. I for one am glad he made this movie; I got to pass an enjoyable evening listening to his witty dialogue. When I turned off the TV I did so with a smile on my face.

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