Scoop

A minor film from workaholic auteur Woody Allen, Scoop is a borsch-belt comedy and screwball murder-mystery. It’s only about 42.5 percent funny, and it has a decidedly slow section in the middle, but the ending is a charmer. Hugh Jackman and Ian McShane turn in saving performances as a suspected murderer and the dead journalist who suspects him. On the downside, Scarlett Johansson’s acting has a high school-play quality to it, and Allen’s shtick is only intermittently effective. But if you’re a fan of Allen’s earlier films like Love and Death and Take the Money and Run, you’ll no doubt be mildly entertained by this.