‘The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion’ (Directed by Woody Allen, starring Woody Allen, Dan Aykroyd, Helen Hunt & Charlize Theron)

added 02 July 2003 at 05.29

I declare an interest straight away I’m a huge Woody Allen fan. The trouble is he should probably give up acting on screen and go back to radio or writing. Woody Allen is not visually appealing. He never really was but a succession of hair fashions and flares helped out, now he’s just a short, skinny prune. But boy can he write and deliver quality lines. At one point to Charlize Theron when she asks if he’s like to see her strawberry birthmark on her thigh he says, “Maybe later I can take the whole tour”.

Woody is CW Briggs a top insurance investigator in, where else, New York. At least he thinks he’s the top. He reckons he can crack any fraud or heist because he can get into the mind of the thief. He then gets hypnotised and starts committing the crimes himself; oops he’s really in the mind of the thief now… and wakes up not knowing anything about it. So he’s looking to catch himself right? It’s a movie right out of the Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn stable complete with verbal punch ups and put downs…

Helen Hunt plays Briggs’ nemesis to perfection with plenty of wisecracks to keep Woody in his place. Dan Aykroyd who is funny standing still, plays her boss. It’s gentle, inoffensive and of course we don’t need films with ‘40s jazz and dames, gumshoes and broads and maybe we don’t need another Woody Allen film but as a script writer of genuinely funny material there’s no one better.

Don’t let this movie sneak past you it will make you laugh out loud…a lot… and you’ll be glad you saw it. The film world continues to be a better place with Woody Allen in it.

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Review by Paul Anderson


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