Scoop (PG-13, 2006)

After agreeing to step into a magic box during a performance by Sid -- aka the Great Splendini -- (Woody Allen), American journalism student, Sondra (Scarlett Johansson) gets a tip from the ghost of a late crime reporter named Joe (Ian McShane). Sondra decides to investigate, and attracts the suspect, an aristocrat named Peter (Hugh Jackman), by pretending to drown in a swimming pool. Within days, Sondra has fallen in love with Peter, and starts doubting the evidence she's been finding that points to his guilt. Her affair inspires Sid's jealousy, as a protective "paternal" figure. When he warns her that she shouldn't be pretending to be someone else -- namely, "Jade Spence" -- in order to solve the case and jumpstart her reporter's career, she observes dryly, "Your whole life is a deception. You're a magician."

If Scoop has a theme, deception might be it. Sondra deceives Peter, Sid deceives everyone except Sondra, and Peter might be deceiving both of them. "I don't like this whole thing," Sondra moans. "I don't like the whole process." As the movie considers how deception drives Joe, Sid, and Sondra -- not to mention the killer -- it also ponders processes of reading as well as performing, as these allow self-deception. And this sounds like an insight.

Angry when Sondra resists his version of the truth, Sid points out, "Even a great reporter can be wrong." Though it takes her a while, Sondra does learn to admit her mistakes. The men who surround her, however, never do.

Studio: Focus Features
Director: Woody Allen
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Woody Allen
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 96 minutes
Theatrical release: July 28, 2006
DVD release: November 21, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: some sexual content.