Woody Allen
Scoop

Allen produces continuously. Without pause. His product is always of excellent quality for two reasons. The first is that the director loves his work, a craft he has conducted for years with great professionalism and attention. The second is that he continues directing without conditions or constraints. Leave him alone with his typewriter. He will open his heart and churn out whatever light or complex things it dictates to him. He will choose all the details with economic care, he will use serious professionals and suitable actors. He will not give up his ideas and his style. If anything, he will adapt to the only necessary requirement to continue his work. The economic one.

And so once again the setting of his film, after the previous one "Match Point", takes place in the seductive London landscape, between the city and the suburbs held by shameless elegance. I had never considered how well Allen could enhance corners of a majestic city like London. He succeeds all too well even in "Scoop", certainly less glossy than the previous work, making fun of the most classic distinguishing feature of English style for more than 100 years: right-hand drive. If someone thinks that the distance from his Manhattan has harmed the director, I believe they are wrong. London ends up being a new winning and convincing starting point (we are now on the verge of a third film). The fact is that Allen does not give up his Americanism or as critic and sociologist Frank Weller defines it, Americanism.

I break a lance in favor of the splendid (because she is real) Scarlett Johansson, a dull actress until you see her in photos and hear about her, but when she's in action, you immediately understand that the young woman can do whatever she wants behind the camera. I was impressed; I found her suitable for any role. She can be adult and child, serious or happy, clumsy or sexy, agitated or depressed. She is a young talent that Allen has managed to highlight at 100%.

Moving on to the film. A series of very fast jokes, a biting irony aimed at the English upper class, in a grotesque but fun little story. A vision of death, which sometimes may be circumvented with some trick, all set in a refined London, but diabolically afflicted by a modern Jack the Ripper. The film is interspersed with the classic piece "The Nutcracker" by Tchaikovsky, which anticipates the tenor (also in this case, the music plays a key role in the film's balance) of the settings.

Allen plays the role of a "heroic" (you will discover why) magician, Mr. Splendini, who entertains modest audiences with repeated tricks and jokes, and this time, he is involved with a very young self-proclaimed journalist and the ghost of a deceased scoop author who materializes near his "equipment". The ghost encourages the couple to carry out a piece of investigative journalism, which in his opinion is a big scoop, making them track down a wealthy Lord who might be the murderer of dozens of prostitutes. It won't be easy to manage things, amidst oddities, false names/roles, and the young journalist's infatuation with the dashing noble.

I insist on saying that London and its surroundings appear in the director's hands as in a magical and harmonious atmosphere, sometimes dark and the scene of an imminent murder, sometimes sunny in occasions of parties and noble gatherings, for a certainly engaging set design.

Although the little comedy is predictable, it turns out to be entertaining and well-crafted, and the protagonists, including Jackman (in the role of the Lord) seem credible and successful.