THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION ------------------------------
CW Briggs (Woody Allen) believes he's the top insurance investigator in New York City, but the new efficiency expert brought into the firm, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) thinks he's a dinosaur. When the two are chosen to be part of a nightclub's hypnotism act, code words will turn them into the criminals they should be investigating in Allen's latest, "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion."
Finally, the Woodman's back in form with his best flick since 1996's "Everyone Says I Love You." Allen, who has a real knack for nostalgic period pieces, has created a sweet mystery.
CW Briggs is a hard boiled, chauvinistic insurance investigator and one of Allen's funniest characters. He goes toe to toe with tough cookie Betty Ann Fitzgerald, who delivers some of the sassiest insults ever to be volleyed in a battle of the sexes. Betty Ann has a secret that makes her appear suspicious to Briggs, but when revealed, uncovers her vulnerability.
When Briggs gets a late night call from Voltan (David Ogden Stiers, "Everyone Says I Love You") whispering "Constantinople," he robs the wealthy Kensingtons, stashes the jewels in his bedroom and has no memory of it. Investigating the next day, he meets spoiled Kensington daughter Laura, (Charlize Theron) the type of gal who swims in fountains and drives fast cars. She's turned on because he's different ('I find it strangely exciting standing here in this grungy hovel with a myopic insurance investigator,' she purrs when visiting his apartment). When Briggs leaves her in his bed to heed another of Voltan's calls, Laura finds his behavior suspicious. Briggs discovers that his boss Magruder (Dan Aykroyd) has taken on Coopersmith detectives who've interviewed Laura and that he's now a suspect! As much as Betty Ann presumably
hates Briggs, she doesn't believe he's a crook, but when he's put away, Voltan uses her code word 'Madagascar.'
Beautifully shot in a golden glow by cinematographer Zhao Fei ("Raise the Red Lantern," "Sweet and Lowdown"), "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" has both the look and feel of a 40's film. Allen's plot is like a loving restoration of a caper from a more innocent time. His interweaving suspicions and code words ('Paris' is used by the married Magruder to convey sweet nothings to his mistress Betty Ann in mixed company) snake throughout his screenplay masterfully. Allen's impeccable choice of music includes recordings of Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" and Glenn Miller's "Sunrise Serenade."
"The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" is a solid mid-range effort from the prolific writer/director that's a delight from start to finish.
B
For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com
laura@reelingreviews.com robin@reelingreviews.com
========== X-RAMR-ID: 29265 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 244957 X-RT-TitleID: 1109247 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1487 X-RT-RatingText: B
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews