Tagline: The Perfect Man, The Perfect Story. The Perfect Murder.
We begin in a church, where a bold and fearless English journalist and reporter named Joe Strombel is being eulogized. Afterward, a group of his colleagues are in a bar, drinking and reminiscing, and they toast to Joe, wherever he is.
Cut to the barge of the dead ferrying recently deceased to their destination. Aboard is Joe Strombel (Ian McShane), trying to bribe the ferryman. He strikes up a conversation with another deceased soul on the ferry, Jane Cook, now former secretary to Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman), son of an English lord. Joe mentions that he died of a coronary thrombosis. Jane, however, believes she was murdered… by Lyman himself. Jane tells Joe hat she was getting suspicious that Lyman was in fact a serial killer known to English police as the Tarot Card killer. Joe wrote a case about these murders when they first began, and wonders why Jane suspects Lyman.
Jane says that at the last murder, a cufflink was found– an expensive Art Deco. Lyman had these exact cufflink models… and before Jane died, she noticed he’d lost one of them. Jane phoned her lawyer for advice on whether to report it, and heard a faint click on the phone line, as if someone had been listening in. Later that day, she’d had a cup of tea, and she died very suddenly shortly afterward, leading her to suspect that her tea had been poisoned. This fascinates Joe, and he’s a little sad that he got the ‘scoop’ on Lyman, but now that he’s dead, he can’t tell the story to others.
At the prestigious Dorchester Hotel, a film director named Tinsley is arriving, and at the door to his room is a young American journalism student named Sondra Pransky (Scarlet Johannsen). Pransky is very excited at meeting Tinsley in person and asks to interview him. Although tired and still busy, Tinsley agrees. But Pransky, young and still naive, doesn’t get the interview because Tinsley gets her drunk, even seduces her, but her intoxication makes her fall asleep and when she wakes up, as she tells a close family friend later, he was on his way to Thailand. Although her friend, Vivian (Romola Garai), tries to console and reassure her, Pransky is still unhappy about blowing the story.
Meanwhile, Joe Strombel has been moping about the death barge, and sits on the edge of the deck. When he’s satisfied nobody is looking, he tips over into the River Styx, and swims away.
Pransky goes with Vivian and her little brother to see a stage show. One of the acts in the show is a magician with the stage name, Splendini (Woody Allen). Splendini’s act blends illusion with comedy, and he speaks obsequiously but the audience enjoys his performance.
Splendini calls for a volunteer, and Pransky is selected from the audience to come on stage. After some small talk, Splendini puts Pransky into a prop box that he says will ‘agitate her molecules and split them apart,’ before he ‘puts her back together.’
Scoop is a 2006 American-British romantic comedy crime film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ian McShane and Allen himself. The film was released in the United States by Focus Features on July 28, 2006. Scoop received generally lukewarm reviews from critics and has been listed by several as one of Allen’s weakest efforts.
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 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.
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Scoop (2006)
Directed by: Woody Allen
Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, Ian McShane, Woody Allen, Kevin McNally, Fenella Woolgar, Meera Syal, Doreen Mantle, David Schneider, Richard Stirling
Screenplay by: Woody Allen
Production Design by: Maria Djurkovic
Cinematography by: Remi Adefarasin
Film Editing by: Alisa Lepselter
Costume Design by: Jill Taylor
Set Decoration by: Philippa Hart
Art Direction by: Nick Palmer
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content.
Distributed by: Focus Features
Release Date: July 28, 2006
Visits: 120
