If last year's "Match Point" was Step 1 of the Woody Allen Revitalization Project, "Scoop" is a confident Step 2. Maybe
it's the shift in focus from New York to London; maybe it's his discovery of Scarlett Johansson as his new Muse. Whatever the cause, these two movies complement one another and bring Allen back to the forefront of great American filmmakers. "Scoop" actually works as the comedic version of the dramatic "Match Point," as both deal with murder and intrigue within England's upper class. In the new film, an American journalism student named Sondra Pransky (Johansson), vacationing in London, is visited by the ghost of recently departed journalist Joe Strombel (Ian McShane). The inveterate newshound, unable to stop working even when he's dead, has learned something while crossing the river Styx: London's notorious Tarot Card Killer would seem to be none other than Peter Lyman, son of respected businessman Lord Lyman! Sondra is naive and inexperienced, but the perky gal is eager to prove herself in the journalism world. She sets out to investigate Peter Lyman, to see if she can come up with enough to go to the police with. (Just telling them she had a tip from a dead man probably wouldn't get her very far.) Assisting her against his will is Sid Waterman (Woody Allen), aka The Great Splendini, a vaudeville-ish stage magician in whose disappearing box Sondra was standing, as an audience volunteer, when Strombol appeared to her. Sid saw him too, hence his involvement. A dead guy appears as part of your stage act, you're kind of obligated to follow his instructions.
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