''Scoop'' is a 2006 romantic

crime comedy film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but als ...

written and directed by

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

and starring

Hugh Jackman Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian and British actor, singer, and producer. Beginning in theatre and television, Jackman landed his breakthrough role as Wolverine in the ''X-Men'' film franchise and the Marvel Cinem ...

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress and singer. The List of highest-paid film actors, world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has been featured multiple times on the Forbes Celebrity 100, ''F ...

Ian McShane Ian David McShane (born 29 September 1942) is an English actor. His television performances include the title role in the BBC series ''Lovejoy'' (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and M ...

and Allen himself. It was released in the United States by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

on July 28, 2006. The film follows an American journalist and a magician being guided by the spirit of a reporter to investigate a British aristocrat who might be a serial killer. ''Scoop'' received mixed reviews from critics regarding its humor, but was a box-office success, grossing $39 million against a $4 million budget.

Plot

Following the memorial service for investigative reporter Joe Strombel, his spirit finds himself on the barge of death with several others, including Jane Cook, a woman who believes she was poisoned by her employer, Peter Lyman. Jane thinks Lyman, a British

aristocrat The aristocracy (''from Greek'' ''ἀριστοκρατία'' ''aristokratía'', "rule of the best"; ''Latin: aristocratia'') is historically associated with a "hereditary" or a "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the ...

with political ambitions, may be the

Tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

Card Killer, a notorious

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

s, and he killed her when she stumbled onto his secret. The Killer leaves a card on each murder victim's body. Sondra Pransky is an American journalism student on vacation in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Pransky attends a performance given by magician Sid Waterman, aka "The Great Splendini", and agrees to participate onstage. While in a booth known as The Dematerializer, Pransky encounters Strombel's ghost. The ghost escaped the Grim Reaper to impart his suspicions of Lyman to a journalist who can investigate the story. Sondra decides to find out if Lyman truly is the Killer, enlisting Sid in the process. Sondra catches Lyman's attention by pretending to drown at an exclusive club's swimming pool. When he rescues her, she introduces herself as Jade Spence, daughter of a wealthy family from Palm Beach. While Sid poses as her father, "Jade" dates Lyman. Sondra is convinced Lyman is the murderer, but Sid finds it hard to believe. Sondra falls in love with Lyman and begins to trust him. Sid meanwhile becomes less sanguine about Lyman as he notices more and more inconsistencies, especially after Sondra finds a

deck hidden under a horn in Peter's vault, a music room containing antique musical instruments. Sid prevails upon Sondra to write a news story implicating Lyman, which the editor rejects because of her lack of proof. Soon the police arrest the real Tarot Card Killer. Sondra, relieved that her suspicions were for naught, reveals her real name and the deception she and Sid had practiced. Lyman is gracious and tells Sondra he wants to keep seeing her. They plan to spend the weekend at Lyman's isolated country estate. Later, Sid (at Strombel's urging) suggests that Lyman used the Tarot Card murders to cover up a killing he committed. While Sondra and Lyman vacation in the country, Sid continues to investigate this theory. He finds that Lyman did frequent a prostitute, Betty Gibson, who was later murdered, apparently by the Killer. Gibson is described as a "baby-faced blonde" (just like Sondra) before Lyman convinced her to dye her hair, presumably to match the profile of the other Tarot victims. When Sid calls Sondra with his findings, she waves them off. Unbeknownst to her, Lyman is listening in on another extension. Sid breaks into Lyman's vault again, this time finding a key, which turns out to be to Betty Gibson's flat. Meanwhile, in a rowboat on Lyman's lake, Lyman confesses to Sondra that he killed Gibson to stop her from blackmailing him and used the Tarot Card pattern to allay suspicion, just as Strombel said. Meanwhile, Sid drives to the Lyman estate to rescue Sondra but ultimately dies in a car crash. After confessing, Lyman throws Sondra into the lake and watches her go under. He later calls the police to report her drowning death. When they question him, he tells them Sondra was a terrible swimmer and almost drowned that first day at the pool. Sondra then enters, soaking wet but alive. She informs Lyman and the police that the drowning had been an act to get his attention, and actually she is a good swimmer. Back in the newspaper offices, the editor who rejected Sondra's article now congratulates her on the start of a promising career. Sondra seems flattered, and says she must also credit Joe Strombel and the late Sid Waterman, who is now a passenger on the Reaper's ship, performing for his fellow spirits the same magical gags and comedy routines he did in life.

Cast

Production

The lead character (originally an adult journalist) was tailored specifically to Johansson, whom Allen observed as having an unutilized "funny" quality about her while working on his previous film, '' Match Point''. Although it was filmed in London, the film is the second of Allen's films (the other being ''

Hollywood Ending ''Hollywood Ending'' is a 2002 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director who suffers hysterical blindness due to the intense pressure of ...

'') not to have a UK theatrical release. It was given a British TV premiere on February 7, 2009 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

. The film eventually came out on DVD in the UK on February 9, 2015 through Icon Film Distribution. As is often the case with Allen's films, there is no original score. Most of the music heard in the film is by

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

, Johann Strauss Jr., and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

. Together with '' The Illusionist'' and ''

The Prestige ''The Prestige'' is a 1995 epistolary science fantasy mystery novel by Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. Its main structure is that of a collection of diaries that ...

'' (which also starred Johansson and Jackman), ''Scoop'' was one of three films in 2006 to explore the world of stage magicians.

Critical reception

''Scoop'' received mixed reviews from critics. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 41% approval rating based on 148 reviews, with an average score of 5.4/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Rehashing old plot lines and characters, ''Scoop'' is a tiresome dipper and another disappointing addition to Woody Allen's repertoire."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

reported the film has an average score of 48 out of 100, based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Stephen Hunter of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' called it the "worst movie Woody Allen has ever made": At the other extreme, Mick LaSalle of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', who also gave positive reviews to Allen's '' Melinda and Melinda'', called it "the funniest movie of the year so far" and Allen's funniest film in a decade. He also said:

Manohla Dargis Manohla June Dargis ( ) is an American film critic. She is the chief film critic for ''The New York Times''. She is a five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Career Before being a film critic for ''The New York Times'', Dargis ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called it "not especially funny yet oddly appealing": Ty Burr of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' called it "fluffy, fatally implausible

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical comedy, physical humor; the use of delibe ...

": The film was ranked as Allen's worst in a 2016 poll of '' Time Out'' contributors, with editor Dave Calhoun writing, "It's not radical to call it his low point." The same year, film critics Robbie Collin and Tim Robey ranked the film as one of Allen's weakest.

Box office

''Scoop'' opened in 538 American theatres on July 28, 2006. In its first three days, it grossed $3,046,924 for a per-theatre-average of $5,663. ''

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

'' listed its opening as the biggest limited release premiere of 2006. By the time the film's domestic run had ended on September 28, 2006, it grossed $10,525,717 in the U.S. and $39,212,510 worldwide. The film had a $4 million budget, not including prints and advertising expense.

References

;Notes ;Citations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scoop (2006 Film) 2006 films 2006 romantic comedy films 2000s American films 2000s British films 2000s buddy comedy films 2000s comedy mystery films 2006 crime comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s fantasy comedy films 2000s romantic fantasy films 2000s serial killer films American buddy comedy films American comedy mystery films American crime comedy films American fantasy comedy films American romantic comedy films American romantic fantasy films American serial killer films BBC Film films British buddy comedy films British comedy mystery films British crime comedy films British fantasy comedy films British romantic comedy films British serial killer films English-language buddy comedy films English-language comedy mystery films English-language crime comedy films English-language fantasy comedy films English-language romantic comedy films English-language romantic fantasy films Films about journalists Films about magic and magicians Films directed by Woody Allen Films produced by Gareth Wiley Films produced by Letty Aronson Films set in London Films shot in London Films shot at Pinewood Studios Films with screenplays by Woody Allen Films about personifications of death Romantic crime films