 With last year's Match Point, Woody Allen appeared to be back in the good graces of the nation's film critics. It didn't last. Most are frowning at his latest film, Scoop. Allen "returns to pre-Match Point mediocre form," writes Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail. Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post calls the movie "the worst movie Woody Allen has ever made ... feeble ... a flaccid meander of a movie." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post similarly observes that the film "sadly demonstrates that Allen has lost much of his comic timing both as a director and an actor." Geoff Pevere in the Toronto Star muses: "If only it were funny instead of just passably amusing, and if only Allen's movies hadn't declined to such a state of rote self-repetition." Nevertheless, Philip Wuntch in the Dallas Morning News says that while he doesn't live up to the promise of Match Point, "it's a charmer all the same. This time, Woody's out to challenge neither the audience nor himself. He simply wants to supply us with a good time. And he does." Lisa Kennedy in the Denver Post describes it as "a trifle, a sweet toss-off ... a treat." And Manohla Dargis in the New York Times, while writing that the movie is "not especially funny," observes that it is "oddly appealing." Several critics note, as Claudia Puig does in USA Today that "Scoop is worthwhile viewing for Allen's quips." And many pick out their favorite one: "I was born into the Hebrew religion, but as I got older, I converted to Narcissism." |
