By James Walling

Following on the success of Match Point (2005), Woody Allen delivers his most entertaining comedy in many years. With Match Point, Allen took his show on the road (to England) and came through with a real gem of a script — its story line eerily reminiscent of George Stevens' A Place in the Sun, as well as Allen's own Crimes and Misdemeanors. Despite some serious errors in casting (namely, Jonathan Rhys Meyers as leading man and the otherwise passable Matthew Goode in a supporting role), Allen's experiment was a crowd-pleaser, even with critics.

Scoop is a classic Allen caper with loads of one-liners, and Laurel and Hardy—esque escapades featuring Scarlett Johansson in a reprise of her role as Allen's sexpot muse. Allen's compact script, again set in London, zips across English social strata from the point of view of an American aspiring journalist, Sondra Pransky (Johansson), who is contacted by the ghost of a famous reporter, Joe Strombel (Ian McShane) during an onstage magic act. Strombel, we know, has recently escaped a ghost ship piloted by Death — crossing over to the other shore, as it were — to pursue one final scoop after he learns from a fellow departee that she was dispatched by a prominent aristocrat, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman).

Strombel concludes that Lyman is actually a notorious serial killer whose exploits are dominating the headlines. Thinking the story too juicy to leave untapped, Strombel attempts to turn it over to the living. He enlists the earnest but simple Pransky, who in turn enlists the assistance of feckless magician Sid Waterman (Allen, with hints of Groucho). Pransky and Waterman set out to infiltrate Lyman's elite social circle in order to investigate and expose him as the infamous killer they believe him to be. Johansson pushes her chest at men and women alike and promptly wins Lyman's amorous — and potentially murderous — attentions. And this is where the plot summary must cease, lest I divulge too much.

Luckily, Johansson's screen time is buoyed by a) periodic threats to her life, and b) Allen's barrage of merciless jokes, of which she is often the butt. Jackman is deliciously urbane as the might-be strangler — his winning smile and sparkling eyes are balanced by a menacing and calculating malevolence that lurks just beneath the surface. McShane is always splendid, and, despite the brevity of his appearances, his unique mix of gravitas and mischief make his adventures in the afterlife the real icing on the cake, transforming the picture from a funny-but-forgettable romp to singular comic oddity that one is likely to remember fondly.