There are three reasons to watch this movie: 1. If you think anything by Woody Allen is absolutely hilarious 2. If you think Scarlett Johanssen is really cute (because she is a lot of that) 3. If you're a Hugh Jackman fan... although you may be disappointed at the very two-dimensional character he's given to portray. Just realize going in this is a Woody Allen comedy (focus on Woody Allen) and not a romance comedy as portrayed in the ads. Character depth isn't in the recipe.On the other hand, if you don't like Woody Allen dominating a film, can only handle so much of Johansson being micro-directed, or are a Hugh Jackman fan, you may find this flick less than satisfying. While there are a few semi-humorous lines in this as well as a couple of well-acted moments, for me Scoop was a bit of a letdown (considering I was hoping for a solid Johansson / Jackman romance comedy). I am going to avoid relating the name of the film to cat litter commercials because that would be crass and irrelevant. However it would be fair to say that while the movie claims to star Johansson and Jackman, the prevalence of Allen in almost every scene of the movie (it surprises me he didn't pop up in the bedroom scenes) definitely gives a different flavor to the film than expected. This is typical Woody Allen humor but with considerably less wit than displayed in his earlier film. Unfortunately it drags Scarlett and Hugh along for the ride in a not-all-that-interesting tale that quickly becomes semi-narrative in scope. I felt as if I were watching an ongoing Allen commentary on everything that was going on in the show.It was our family movie night. My sister politely excused herself about halfway through and told me go ahead and finish watching it and let her know if the rest is worth watching. I didn't blame her. I later emailed her that between the two of us hers was the wiser decision. Allen fans may disagree with this review (especially when I read the glowing reviews about what an uproarious comedy this is), but I didn't go into this with the understanding I was watching a Woody Allen movie with two co-stars. I went in expecting a romantic-comedy and found little of either. There are apparently a lot of people who agree, as this barely squeaks out a 6.5 rating as of this review.I'll include no spoilers, no discussion of (plot?)... just a caution: if you like Woody Allen you might enjoy this movie. If viewers enjoy predictable, light-fluff plot lines, this makes a pretty decent rainy Saturday flick. Far worse films have been made-- and this does have the benefits of Johannson and Jackman to provide eye candy throughout-- its true saving grace and the reason I gave it 5 stars rather than a yawner 4. Perhaps the actors would agree-- this was not their best platform, and is nowhere near the best work of Woody Allen. Beware the reviews with gushing stars in their eyes. If you're an Allen fan and love the movie, I'm happy for you. Other folks may find this to be a cutesy flick centered around Woody Allen's performance. And I say that with the deepest sincerity. You're all amazing people, a credit to your race. Seriously, you've been wonderful. (That schlock got tiring pretty early.)

Given the steady output of movies we might as well forgive Woody Allen for making some that are sub-par. Given the rumors that circulated during filming of Match Point and Scoop about the romantic relationship between himself and Scarlett Johansson i'm even more inclined to forgive him.Jokes apart, Scoop is not a bad movie yet offers nothing new or exceptionally good. It seems to be built upon the leftovers of Match Point and the desire to film scantly clad Scarlett Johansson.As it usually is the case, if you like Woody Allen's movies, you'd probably like this one. Otherwise, this is the movie that you can pass on without guilty conscience.

Woody Allen starts this film with a lot of magic, delivering one of the most boredom characters he's played to date. I mean, it's not like I have seen many of his movies, but out of those which I've seen, Sid Waterman is surely the one. Considering that this film's beginning seemed a little uninteresting, I had my doubts whether it would get any good or not. Fortunately, it DID. Scarlett Johansson plays a brave woman who wants to investigate the case of a murderer, so she finds out a way to precisely do that: dating the main suspect. However, after she falls in love with him, it gets hard to make her notice the danger lies beneath her nose. Please notice that I'm not judging her; Jackman's character is a extreme elegant man who would NEVER be able to rise my bad expectations on him. He's just too calm to be a lunatic (please don't notice that I would also be thrown in the river, just like her). The great message of "Scoop" is that old cliché of "don't judge a book by its cover", which reminds me of "Aladdin" series, reason why I don't give a better rating than 7, even thought I admit that I had a really good time watching it. Thumbs up for Allen!

Plot: An American journalism student in London scoops a big story, and begins an affair with an aristocrat as the incident unfurls.This is easily Woody Allen's worst film. The story is beyond contrived, full of plot holes, and is very jumbled. Every actor is wasted whether it's Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, or Ian McShane are all given nothing roles with bland and uninteresting characters that don't showcase the range that each actor has. Woody Allen himself is not funny in the least bit, I'll never understand why people think that he's a good actor but that's just me. As a mystery, it is not remotely interesting unlike Manhattan Murder Mystery which did have an interesting murder mystery plot that you could follow.This film is lazy, uninspired garbage that you should stay away from at all costs. Go watch Allen's two other mystery films Crimes and Misdemeanors and the one mentioned above, they are easily his 2 best films that put an emphasis on this genre and blends comedy and drama very well. Go rent those instead, you will not regret it.