What’s in a name?
Well, if that moniker happens to be Splendini then it’s an apt description of Woody Allen’s latest film. Splendini is the ridiculous stage name Woody Allen gives the magician he plays in “Scoop.”
A romp of a thing, “Scoop” won’t be mistaken for splendid. Yet for diminutive pleasure, the murder- mystery comedy can rightly be called splendini.
As the film opens, British investigative journalist Joe Strombel (Ian Mc- Shane) has departed to the other side. In a gleeful sign of play, Allen has the decidedly ex-journalist crossing a fog- shrouded river, a cloaked figure at the boat’s prow.
While his friends and colleagues praise him, Strombel begins chatting with the late secretary of a British luminary who believes she knows the identity of a serial murderer killing prostitutes in London.
It’s the tip of a lifetime. Only there’s one small problem.
McShane – of lived-in face, deep-set eyes and “Deadwood” fame – does an oddly touching yet unsentimental job portraying a journalist so dogged, but also so assured, he figures out a way to deliver his scoop to someone who can get it on Page One.
Sondra Pransky (Scarlett Johansson) is not an obvious choice for the expired Fleet Streeter. The American journalism student is spending the summer in London with her friend’s family, which clearly is well-off.
At a performance by illusionist Sid “Splendini” Waterman, Strombel contacts the young woman. He materializes while she’s being “dematerialized.” Soon Sondra and a reluctant, nervously nattering Sid are trying to figure out if the dashing Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) is the killer.
Romance complicates things when Sondra introduces herself to Peter with the tony name Jade Spence. Sid, she says, is her father. You’re forgiven if you find a joke in that setup – grandfather is more like it. Soon the two are breaking bread in Peter’s upper-crust world.
Johannson proves a nimble partner for Allen. Clearly the writer-director believes in the broad possibilities of his “Match Point” star. And while her verbal volleys aren’t as felicitous as the fastest-talkin’ dame of all, Rosalind Russell, Johansson comes ready to play.
Play is the operative word. “Scoop” is a trifle, a sweet toss-off.
Jackman is smooth in just that way that keeps the scale of guilt or innocence seesawing. Is it his easy wealth that makes him suspect, or is it the way he talks about his mum that’s a bit dodgy?
When Sid thinks the world of Peter, Sondra has doubts. When Sondra tilts toward trust, Sid slides toward suspicion.
“Scoop” isn’t quite Hitchcock by way of Howard Hawks, but there are plenty of old-school murder- mystery moments to keep us guessing.
“There’s too much smoke not to be a fire,” advises Strombel, whose time for making his case is truly running out.
In “Woody Allen on Woody Allen,” the director told Stig Bjorkman, “I feel it’s a trivial picture, but fun for me….I just wanted to take part of the year and do this little thing for a fun. Like a little dessert or something. Not a real meal.”
Allen was talking about the film he’d just finished: “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” a movie “Scoop” will be compared to.
So, what’s in a name? While the title refers to the one-upsmanship reporters dream of, you might look elsewhere for its true meaning.
Coming off his rich, ethical stew “Match Point,” Allen has dished up a treat. Now, will that be a single or double, waffle or sugar cone?
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com.
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“Scoop”
PG-13 for some sexual content|1 hour, 36 minutes|CRIME COMEDY| Written and directed by Woody Allen; photography by Remi Adefarasin; starring Allen, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Ian McShane|Opens today at area theaters
