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Scoop
R4 - Australia - Warner Home Video Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak and Chrisana Love (21st October 2007). |
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The Film
 I will get this out of the way first thing: I love Woody Allen. Yes, I am one of those people. My love, however, is not unconditional; especially of late ("Melinda and Melinda" (2004), despite the fantastic premise and cast, contained so much wasp-y whining I wanted to stab myself in the ear with a fork). Although I do usually enjoy his female leads (watching a woman play the Woody-esque role always amuses me) I'm just not sold on Allen's muse-du-jour Scarlett Johansson (good boobies...not such good chops). However, I really enjoyed this, which was quite a relief. Right, the gist: Johanssonsensen plays the highly ambitious and mildly annoying (well, she is mimicking Allen) wannabe-investigative college journalist: Sondra Pransky. Whilst playing the audience volunteer at the magic show of one Sidney "Splendini" Waterman (played by Allen) she encounters the ghost of the recently departed and world renowned reporter Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), who has the scoop on the notorious "tarot card" serial killer. The twist is that the suspect is aristocrat Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), son of Lord Lyman (Julian Glover). How said scoop was discovered, in a typically surreal scene (which bought to mind the Greek choir in "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995) and Death's previous role in Allen's "Deconstructing Harry" (1997)) reminded me why I like his films so much. Strombel strikes up a conversation with another of the recently deceased, Peter Lyman's personal secretary, whilst traveling on death's barge...through a smoke-machine covered body of murky water. He jumps ship with the lead and makes his way to Pransky. Pransky teams up with the hapless Waterman (posing as father and daughter, which have its moments of uncomfortable humour) and she sets off to seduce said aristocrats son with her feminine whiles (i.e: lady lumps). All goes mostly to plan. He falls for her awkward charm and wet lycra in an instant, although it all unravels when she (surprise, surprise) finds herself falling in love with him. There are some great vintage Allen moments in "Scoop". Being one of the first purveyors of the now popular cringe-inducing "car-crash" humour, the wincing doesn't come any better than this. Set in London the film is littered throughout with the worst Yank cracks about ye ol' England. Despite my love for Allen's work, it's got to be said: the leering over young female leads is just hands down creepy. Yes, we are all aware of your predilections but the Father/daughter jokes were a little too close to home. But for those who dig his work (and in this even those who don't are in for a funny, light-hearted romp at the least) this is a nice return to form.
Video
Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen this transfer is a suitable effort on the part of Warner Brothers. Sharpness is maintained for the most part, a few shots here and there appear a bit on the soft side though. Colours are nice and vivid, skin tones appear accurate and black levels are deep and bold. The print does have some mild grain but it's not distracting. I found no evidence of compression related faults and no edge-enhancement. Overall it's a fairly decent transfer.
Audio
This film only includes a single English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track, much like all of Allen's other films 2.0 mono is about all we're ever going to get, which is a shame. I can't honestly understand why he won't embrace surround sound as the film could have been an immersive experience with just a little bit of ambient sound, a little depth does go a long way. The 2.0 mono track does the job with clear dialogue but I felt that it was a bit quiet; additionally the film's score doesn't appear overbearing and fits in quite well. This disc doesn't include any optional subtitles.
Extras
None!
Overall
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