Let me make it clear, before I write more critically below, that I think Woody Allen is a genius. He has directed audacious masterpieces like Stardust Memories (his most underrated film) and Husbands and Wives, both of which made some audiences and critics uncomfortable and unhappy. And he has given us splendid entertainment such as Annie Hall, Sleeper, and Love and Death.
I am not as big a fan of his more sedate, allegedly “refined” movies like Hannah and Her Sisters and Crimes and Misdemeanors, although they are still the work of a sophisticated, skilled craftsman. But in the last ten years or so, Allen seems to have almost completely lost his way, with a series of featherweight and/or awful comedies.
The fact that last year’s Match Point was not inanely ridiculous, like most of his other recent movies, is probably what caused it to be praised so far out of proportion to its achievement. I thought Match Point was one of the most overrated movies of recent years, rather skillfully engineered but irritatingly self-satisfied and vacuous – which would also describe the badly miscalculated lead performance by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.
Match Point could be the evil twin of Woody Allen’s newest movie, the mildly entertaining Scoop. (The two films share a London setting, a plot about murder, and Scarlett Johansson.) Allen’s best movies remain just a distant memory, but at least this newest comedy is not embarrassing, as Hollywood Ending was, to cite just one example from his more recent work. This one moves right along, with its silly but somewhat endearing plot and its lightweight but charming performances by Johansson and Hugh Jackman. It’s a comedy-mystery with supernatural overtones, a distant cousin of The Purple Rose of Cairo and some of Allen’s comic essays in The New Yorker.
In fact, the only part of Scoop that is really jarringly bad is Woody Allen himself, as a performer. He has given himself an annoying part with the worst lines in the script – really stale, sour one-liners. There were a few people in the audience when I saw it who guffawed delightedly at every one of these clinkers, but the laughter sounded mechanical to me, a reflex based on earlier, better jokes and movies.
So unless you're a fan and a completist, I recommend you skip this one, and instead rent one of this prolific director's many wonderful movies – start with almost anything he made between 1971 and 1995. Chances are that whatever one you pick is better than almost anything currently at the multiplex.
Article comments
1 - Scott Butki
Good piece. I don't like his more recent movies but I'm not sure if some of my opinion is based on his personal life. But his movies do seem to be getting increasingly stale in concept and execution.
2 - Roberta Rosenberg
Like you, I think most of Allen's movie's of the last 10 years or so have been decidedly dreadful, but I would disagree on Match Point. I did find it a compelling film (not great, but compelling), and would have found it so no matter if it were an Allen auteur piece or not. (FWIW, my husband, who is NOT an Allen film fan, liked Match Point a lot also.)
I'll also give a big nod to Hannah and Her Sisters, perhaps because it's one of the few Allen films that ends on a happy, satisfied note. Is it a little mannerly after Annie Hall? Sure, but Hannah "gets me" every time.
3 - Anne Hedley
As an avid fan of Hugh Jackman I am distinctly unhappy because to date Scoop is not being shown in this country. The film has a cast loved by fans with Hugh Jackman and our own Ian McShane.
Plus the fact if I dont see it and I cant get the DVD I will be missing a Hugh Jackman film in my colection
It is a not a big budget film we all know that but if is making a profit. So for goodness sake bring it to the UK cinemas
4 - Pat Evans
Given Allen's prolific output -- at least one film a year -- it is not surprising that some are bummers. "Hollywood Ending" was the absolute nadir. However even the greatest directors have their failures; I defy anyone to watch John Ford's "Gideon's Day" without grimacing. And are we really meant to judge an artist by his personal life? Were this the case there would be innumerable actors and directors on someone or other's blacklist. Of Allen's recent films, I thought "Melinda and Melinda" was a definite return to form (whatever that means), and I for one am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt for a long as he keeps going.
5 - handyguy
I don't believe I have judged Allen's films based on his personal life [to which, for the record, I am apparently more sympathetic/favorably disposed than most]. I think Husbands and Wives is his best film, and it was released just as the scandal began to break.
It's true that he is prolific...and yet the distance from the poorest of his movies to the best is so vast that it's hard not to feel pain and disappointment at many of the recent ones.
I agree halfway about Melinda and Melinda...the 'funny' half was good, but the 'serious' half was unfortunate.
6 - Pat Evans
The comment on Allen's personal life was not aimed at you but at the person who left the first comment on your piece.