Not a story to be missed

Published on August 2, 2007

Even if "Scoop" is a year late in arriving here, we can be thankful that we're at least getting to see it, because Woody Allen films are never boring.

Other critics have been dismissive about "Scoop", but movie fans yearning for something a bit more meaty and intelligent than run-of-the-mill Hollywood fare should try and catch this one.

As the title suggests, it's about a reporter. Scarlett Johansson stumbles onto a murder mystery and comes to believe that aristocrat Hugh Jackman is the killer.

As expected, the investigation gets complicated when she falls in love with Jackman. Allen, as Johansson's father, helps her track down the killer in this fairly entertaining whodunit that has plenty of twists and turns.

Jackman - who performed so well last year in "Prestige", playing a magician, and "Happy Feet", as the great voice of Mumble's father - shows here how underrated he is. The "X-Men" films established him as a solid leading man, and hopefully "Scoop" will open more doors for this talented Australian.

As for Allen, this will be a great opportunity for local fans to catch up with one of the world's best filmmakers, one of the few who consistently writes, directs, acts and produces his own movies. He is one of the very few stars who can be compared with Charlie Chaplin, another great auteur.

And Johansson shines here. It is Allen's gift that he can make his female co-stars glimmer, as in "Annie Hall", "Manhattan" and "Mighty Aphrodite". They have often ended up with Oscars.

The other great part in "Scoop" went to Ian McShane (the sterling star of "Deadwood") as the ghost who opens the film.

by hanuman