The Scoop on Scoop

I saw Scoop this week, the new Woody Allen film starring Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman, and both Allen and the film felt tired. Although there were a few laughs, I did not find the film particularly funny, and I wonder if the 70-year-old actor/director still has a comic touch. Allen's one-liners seem familiar and the plot is not particularly imaginative.

Set in London, Allen's new cinematic home, Scoop seems like an afterthought to his 1993 film Manhattan Murder Mystery. That one, with Diane Keaton, Angelica Huston and Alan Alda, was a much better comedy. Scoop suffers from familiarity more than anything, Allen's performance as magician The Great Splendini included. Johansson is fine as the young student reporter investigating a millionaire she suspects (with help from beyond the grave) to be a serial killer. Hugh Jackman, as millionaire Peter Lyman, holds the film together with his breezy and convincing performance. But it's not enough.