Review: The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (12A)
THE man who made such great films as Manhattan, Annie Hall and Hannah and Her Sisters has in recent years failed to hit the mark.
It comes as a disappointment to see that Woody Allen again falls short with this screwball heist movie set in 1940s New York which is never more than just average.
Allen directs and stars as C W Briggs, a top insurance investigator whose seedy world is complicated by Helen Hunt's tough troubleshooter newly employed by his boss Dan Aykroyd and by a crooked stage performer who hypnotises the mismatched couple to fall in love.
However, he keeps them in their trance and sends them to steal some precious jewellery. In its favour The Curse of the Jade Scorpion looks great. It is beautifully designed, costumed and shot.
A homage to anything from Raymond Chandler to those great film noir B-movies of the 1940s, Allen tries to emulate the same chemistry that Bogart and Bacall enjoyed by doing the same with his sleazy investigator and the feisty character Hunt plays.
A plodding and sometimes amusing film which will leave Allen fans wondering if the former maestro will ever regain his magic touch.
Mono rating: 5 out of 10
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