FILMS
RECENTLY SCREENED AT THE FILM SOCIETY
Scoop
A CULTURE ALERT from 26 July 2006:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center had a Donor screening of
Woody Allen's new film, "Scoop," last evening...and it was NOT bad!
The idea that a film's "not being bad" deserves a
Culture Alert would be ludicrous, except that this unfortunately IS news about
Woody Allen. It has been SO sad: the Woodman had been one of
my very favorite filmmakers..and someone I actually consider to have been among
the all-time great filmmakers--and one of the funniest people ever. But
since "Sweet and Lowdown" (a wonderful little film, with one of Sean
Penn's best performances), his work has fallen off a cliff. "Curse
of the Jade Scorpion" and "Melinda, Melinda" were so
unredeemably terrible that I was all but convinced his career was over--or
should have been (I did not see "Small Time Crooks," but I understand
it to have been half-way to this nadir); and, while it arguably was not
completely terrible, I did not like "Match Point" at all.
(I found it a trite, predictable re-working of "Crimes and
Misdemeanor"--which I never thought was all that good in the first
place. Many people really liked it, but I was convinced that was because
they were relieved that it was not completely terrible like the two preceding
ones.)
In "Scoop," Woody actually is funny again.
His timing isn't perfect, and he has included some bits that fall flat (in a
way that he never would have been guilty of in his prime); but he IS funny in
the old Woody Allen way. The story is a silly "Manhattan Murder
Mysteries" redux--and one that lacks the special chemistry of his work
with Diane Keaton; but the film moves along and is enjoyable. I say this
despite what I found to be a painfully bad performance by Scarlett
Johansson. Now, understand: I very much dislike Scarlett Johansson.
(I liked her in "Lost in Translation"; but that liking diminished
upon realizing that her annoying, entitled, narcissistic character was not
exactly acting...) I do not think she is very good at acting at
all...but she is definitely not a comic actress.
Don't get me wrong: "Scoop" is not a
particularly good movie. But we enjoyed it, despite Scarlett Johansson's
pitiful performance...and I did not leave the theater swearing that I'd never
again go to see another picture by Woody Allen
And, later that day:
Wow! I have not had reactions like this since my
Culture Alerts on Christo's "The Gates" project in Central Park
(q.v., http://www.RLRubens.com/gates.html )....with
many of you weighing in on it within minutes and hours after my sending it out.
I want to be VERY clear about one point: I do NOT
consider Scoop to be a particularly good movie. It has a thin,
flawed plot; it is uneven and spotty; its implicit philosophical
positions are questionable--not least of which when it comes to his
view of women and relationships; and, most importantly, the
film lacks much of Woody Allen's deep connection to and insight into
those aspects of the human condition (odd and rarified though they may have
been) that leant such an air of relevance and deep comic meaning to
his great earlier movies. And, I thoroughly disliked Scarlett Johansson's
performance. (More about that below.)
What is so different about this film from Jade Scorpion
and Melinda, Melinda is that Woody Allen manages once again to be
funny. He is old, he looks frail, but I could feel some of his
former comic vitality that many of us used to love so much. He is doing
some of his old schtick...but it works, in a way that it clearly has not in
some time. (His attempts to do so in Jade Scorpion were so
off they made me wince.) I laughed repeatedly while watching Scoop...whereas
in his last three movies I just ground my teeth.
A number of you have replied that my little review was going
to lead you to go see the film...although at least one respondent noted that
she felt I had "damned [it] with faint praise." I do not want
to raise your expectations too high, because they will then most certain be
dashed. If you are expecting the unparalleled brilliance of Bananas
or Play It Again, Sam or Love and Death or Annie Hall
or
With respect to Scarlett Johansson, while I've yet to hear
anyone praise her acting (I've mostly received remarks like, "I'm
glad I'm not the only one that thinks Scarlett's incredibly overrated.
It's a shame, too, since she seems to get her pick of roles these days, taking
them from more talented actresses..."), it is interesting how disparate
opinions are about her appearance. The ends of the spectrum I've gotten
run from "the most incredibly sexy woman I've ever seen" to "she
looks like a fat cow." Here are a few samples: "She
was so gorgeous in Match Point I thought it was obscene";
"I found Scarlett's shrieking and carrying on [in Match Point] so
excruciating I was relieved when she died." Personally, I am in the
end of the range that does not find her either sexy or attractive. Mais, chacun
à son goût...as long as no one tries to convince me she can act.
Opinions are diverse on Match Point, ranging from "one
of his best movies in years" to my own thorough dislike of it; but,
in general, most felt it to be at least "OK"--and many
really liked it. (At least one very knowledgeable viewer thought it felt
like it had been done by someone other than the man who had made the
previous few Woody Allen films.) At least two respondents have
mentioned that it was actually a reworking of "An American
Tragedy." Personally, I really did not like it, but I would not
claim it to be without any possible merit. What I do feel is that
it does not return to any of the caliber of Woody Allen's earlier films.
And, more telling, I simply wished I had not bothered seeing it.
To put my view of his film oeuvres in some
perspective, allow me to say that, until this most recent film, I felt Woody
Allen had failed to make it into the twenty-first century: I very much
liked his last film of the old millennium (the 1999 Sweet and Lowdown),
but I had not liked anything since. (I have not seen Hollywood Ending
[2002] or Small Time Crooks [2000], but nothing I've heard about
them makes me suspect they would make me decide to the contrary.) I
thought Celebrity (1998) was a mildly successful film, with many flaws
but with several redeeming features. I am one of those people who thinks
that Deconstructing Harry (1997) was a masterpiece, despite its
disturbing level of misogyny. I thoroughly enjoyed his musical
romp, Everyone Say I love You (1996); I enjoyed much of Mighty
Aphrodite (1995). And I adored his "Oedipus Wrecks" piece that
was part of New York Stories (1989). As for his earlier works, I
have raved about them above. Woody Allen is a giant, in my estimation--a
true artist who once was able to connect with something very real and profound
in the human condition...which is why his recent decline has been so sad and
upsetting to me. In Scoop, he has at least succeeded once again
in being funny. It is not a great film...not even a particularly good
film; but it is entertaining...and at the very least, as David Edelstein
concluded, it does not "leave a bad odor in its wake."
And, if you want to experience the unparalleled brilliance
of his humor, for $14 on Amazon.com you can purchase the two CD set Woody
Allen: Nightclub Years 1964-1968.
