New
York
(Reuters):
There's
an
undercurrent
of
deja
vu
coursing
through
Woody
Allen's
new
comedy
Scoop,
starting
with
its
London
setting.
But
perhaps
most
significantly,
Scarlett
Johansson,
the
leading
lady
of
Allen's
last
film,
Match
Point,
once
again
plays
a
displaced
American
woman
though
in
Scoop
she's
more
damsel
in
distress
than
femme
fatale.
So
is
Johansson,
21,
poised
to
become
the
director's
next
muse,
succeeding
Diane
Keaton
and
Mia
Farrow?
Allen
enthused
in
a
production
notes
interview
that:
''She's
a
total
joy.
It's
like
I
hit
the
lottery
or
something.''
He
compared
her
to
Keaton,
who
starred
in
Allen
classics
such
as
Annie
Hall
and
Sleeper.
''There
are
certain
people
I've
worked
with
over
the
years
--
Diane
Keaton
was
one
--
who
were
just
hit
with
the
talent
stick
and
had
it
all.
And
Scarlett
has
got
it
all,''
Allen
said.
''It's
a
treat
to
work
with
her.''
After
years
of
filming
nearly
all
of
his
pictures
in
New
York
City,
Allen
returned
to
the
British
capital,
where
he
shot
last
year's
dark
drama
''Match
Point.''
He
also
revisited
the
caper
territory
of
''Manhattan
Murder
Mystery,''
which
the
director
said
was
a
favorite
of
his
films.
In
Scoop
Johansson
plays
a
student
reporter
named
Sondra
Pransky
who
gets
a
tip
from
a
dead
journalist
(''Deadwood's''
Ian
McShane)
who
returns
from
the
afterlife
to
ensure
that
his
big
scoop
makes
it
into
print.
The
scoop
is
that
an
English
lord's
dashing
son,
played
by
Hugh
Jackman,
might
be
behind
the
Tarot
Card
serial
killings
terrorizing
London.
Allen
intended
Scoop
as
a
sort
of
tribute
to
The
Thin
Man
and
Bob
Hope
murder
mysteries,
then
tweaked
the
genre
by
adding
mystical
elements
that
marked
The
Purple
Rose
of
Cairo,
Alice
and
his
segment
of
New
York
Stories.
Early
reviews
have
been
mixed,
with
some
grumbling
about
revisiting
old
ground,
but
Kirk
Honeycutt
of
The
Hollywood
Reporter
described
the
film
as
an
''amusing
if
minor
work
that
delivers
many
of
the
hallmark
Woody
Allen
pleasures.''
Allen,
who
used
to
cast
himself
as
the
romantic
lead
to
far
younger
actresses,
relegates
himself
to
a
comic
role
as
a
cut-rate
magician
Splendini
(real
name
Sid
Waterman),
who
ends
up
posing
as
Johansson's
father
to
help
find
the
killer.
The
rising
actress,
known
for
quirkily
diverse
projects
such
as
Lost
in
Translation,
Girl
with
the
Pearl
Earring
and
Ghost
World,
and
the
veteran
director
said
they
had
so
much
fun
on
the
set
of
Match
Point
that
Allen
set
about
writing
another
project
in
which
they
could
co-star.
She
leaves
me
for
dead,
Allen
said.
Johansson
said
making
Scoop
was
a
joy:
''It
is
definitely
reflective
of
the
sort
of
banter
that
Woody
and
I
have,''
she
told
reporters
in
New
York
promoting
her
second
Allen
film,
which
opens
on
July
28.
''It
was
like
going
back
to
summer
camp,''
she
said.
Promoting
the
film,
however,
was
more
of
a
trial.
Her
famous
whiskey
voice
went
flat
when
the
subject
turned
to
her
boyfriend,
actor
Josh
Harnett,
her
co-star
in
the
upcoming
Brian
De
Palma
thriller
The
Black
Dahlia.
''I
just
don't
talk
about
any
part
of
my
private
life,''
she
said,
adding
that
there
were
more
important
topics,
such
as
Iraq,
for
people
to
focus
on.
''It's
nice
to
have
everybody
not
know
your
business.''