The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) Reviews

• "It's a match made in heaven... by a retarded angel."

  G_a_l_i_n_a2007-04-04

  "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" is a romantic comedy/crime/mystery set in New York City of the 1940s which involves a love-hate relationship between veteran insurance investigator CW Briggs (Woody Allen) and his new boss Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt). One night, while watching the Magician's show with the rest of the employees, they are both hypnotized by a sinister hypnotist with a jade scorpion who later uses them into unknowingly stealing jewels for him. Had this comedy been written and directed by someone else, it would've been a disaster but Allen with his magic touch, had produced a funny and charming delight. That's what my husband called it after we enjoyed it together and I can't agree more. I love Ellington's music, the whole 40-th setting, and Woody's one-liners. His face in the scene where he and Helen Hunt were both hypnotized was simply hilarious - the guy knows how to do a physical comedy to perfection. I don't care if this picture has been called "a lesser Allen's movie" - it is still much better than majority of the comedies that come out every year. Even "lesser Allen" is enjoyable and memorable.

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• Funny With A Good Cast

  ccthemovieman-12006-01-25

  Here's an entertaining crime story set in 1939 with nice atmosphere and colors and the normal Woody Allen wacky humor. If you enjoy man-versus-woman insult exchanges, you'll love this as Allen and Helen Hunt trade clever barbs back and forth at a rate that reminded of an old Marx Brothers film. Many of the lines are funny with Allen, since it's his film, delivering most of them. The story goes on a bit too long but overall keeps your interest. The women in here, from Hunt to the office girl (Elizabeth Berkely) to Charlize Theron playing a Veroncia Lake-lookalike are all glamorous. Dan Akroyd, David Ogden-Stiers, Wallace Shawn and John Schuck are all veteran comedians who know their trade so the movie offers a lot of quality yuks. I'm surprised this movie isn't better known. I really enjoyed it the first time but laughed even more on the second viewing. Silly, but fun.

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• Good, old, funny Woody!

  Funky A2002-02-02

  So, Woody Allen is now old and it is hard to believe that a rich and attractive girl played by Charlize Theron could be attracted to him... If you were truly thinking about that while watching The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, then you should reconsider the way you watch a movie. Sure, Allen is now really old, but who can play his role as well as he does. He sometimes casts other actors in that role, such as John Cusack in Bullet Over Broadway, but even though they do the job very well, they can't be better than the old man with the big glasses himself. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is not a serious Woody Allen movie. It is not one of his most important movies that is clear. But its aim is to entertain and entertain it does. Jade Scorpion shares a lot with Woody's recent light comedies such as Small Time Crooks and Manathan Murder Mystery. And like these two, it is certainly not a new Annie Hall. But it does not try to. It is just a lot of fun to watch. The script is funny, the acting is charming, the plot is just hilarious, and on the whole, this movie puts a smile on your face from the beginning to the end. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is another very nostalgic movie, like Radio Days, Sweet and Lowdown, Everyone Says I Love You and Bullets Over Broadway, but once again, Allen makes us forget for 103 minutes that he is basically doing nothing he hasn't done before. But the man once again shows his gift to entertain. And what more can you ask from an aging genius? 77%

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• Delightful tribute to films of old

  steevo19672001-09-03

  I usually do not read movie reviews prior to actually seeing a film. This has a tendency to influence what I think, or even how I watch a movie. I made the mistake of reading a few reviews of The Curse of the Jade Scorpion before I watched it. As I watched Woody Allen's latest opus, a tribute to the quick-witted ‘screwball' comedies of the late 1930's and early 1940's, I found myself mentally arguing with the reviewers. The very issues they had with this movie were some of it's greatest features. The plotline for Scorpion is simple. Allen portrays an ‘old school' insurance company detective with a fantastic record for solving his cases. Helen Hunt is a `streamlining expert' brought in to bring the insurance company in-step with the `modern world' of the 1940's. Allen and Hunt's characters are like water and oil. The two are hypnotized (with a Jade Scorpion used to induce the trance, hence the title) in a stage show, and later the hypnotist calls on Allen to steal the very jewels his company insures; Allen has no knowledge he has done this. The fun ensues as Allen attempts to find the person responsible for the thefts. While this is an over simplification of the actual story, the actual story is perhaps too simple and predictable as well, but this is not the reason people go to Woody Allen movies. It is the well written dialog that fits each person delivering the lines; the meticulous attention to detail of a period movie that works like a time machine transporting the audience on a trip to sixty years in the past; the unpredictable humor that fills each predictable twist. These are things that makes this movie work. One review criticized the casting of Allen in the lead role. Allen, now 66, `was not believable in a romantic lead', and the critic went on to suggest that another actor should have been used. This thought was swimming through my mind throughout the two hours of the movie. Allen was perfect for the role. His character, C.W. Biggs, is an aging insurance investigator, with few redeeming characteristics. He is not supposed to be handsome or attractive. Yes, the Wood-Man is getting old, but it works for the movie. There are some unflattering shots where we see his Godfather-like jowls. This is not the same thirty-something guy from Bananas or Sleeper; he is a sixty-something old man. We need to accept this. It is apparent that the filmmaker has accepted this for himself, and tailored the film to work with this in mind. Helen Hunt's Betty Ann Fitzgerald can't stand C.W. in any way, and it is only after Volton (David Ogden Stires) hypnotizes her in a magic show does she not show that she loathes him. Sexy and rich socialite Laura Kensington, portrayed by the beautiful 26 year-old Charlize Theron, is attracted to Biggs because he the antithesis of her past conquests: something new and different. Sure, he could have cast someone else, perhaps Jason Alexander, into his Biggs role. While it would have certainly made an entertaining movie, there would have been something lost. Woody needs to be in Woody Allen movies. It just works. Another critic panned the casting of Elizabeth (Saved by the Bell, Showgirls) Berkley with such actors as Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd, Wally Shawn, et al. True enough, Berkley's acting talents do not match up with the names I mentioned; but the casting of Berkley for the minor role of office secretary ‘Jill' is perfect nonetheless. Allen's attention to detail cannot be overlooked. I first noticed in his 1987 film, Radio Days, just how detail oriented he can be. As a musician, and something of an aficionado of vintage musical instruments, I always look for anachronisms in period movies when a band is featured. I can usually tell the year a wind instrument was made just by looking at it. Not only were all of the instruments true to the time portrayed, the label on the mute (a Humes and Berg ‘Stonelined') used by a trombone was correct for the period. One off the shelf in a music store today looks identical, except for small differences in the label. I was amazed that this level of detail was made. I am convinced this level of detail was made in the casting as well. This movie is not only set in New York in 1940, but also as a Hollywood movie made in 1940; clichés common to movie making of the time abounded. I believe the casting of Berkley in her role is another one of these details. A movie made in that time would have featured headliners from the stable of lead actors from a movie studio, or perhaps one loaned from another. These would be people in the roles Allen, Hunt and Aykroyd had. The role of the office secretary would not have been filled by a star, but by one of the studio's contract players sent to the production by central casting. There were many young, gorgeous actresses with questionable acting talent that were picked up by a studio in hopes of her developing into the flavor-of-the-week, or maybe for just a ride on the casting couch. Elizabeth Berkley filled this role flawlessly. She hit her marks, said her lines, and that's about it. I think it is just what the writer / director wanted. The ensemble cast all delivered credible performances. Like a film of the time, the only performances that stand out are those of the leads; it is Woody Allen and Helen Hunt's movie, as it should be. (William Powell and Myrna Loy stand out in front of the cast of 1934's The Thin Man, who remembers Nat Pendleton or Minna Gombel?) Dan Aykroyd plays an adulterant Insurance Company C.E.O. in much the same way as his dramatic performances in Driving Miss Daisy or My Girl: understated and credible. He allows the writing to do the comedy for him, without having to work at it. Charlize Theron's (Cider House Rules, The Astronaut's Wife) roll is smaller than her on-screen presence. She makes for a perfect 1940's screen vixen. David Ogden Stires always gives a good performance, and was able to shake the shadow of M*A*S*H's Maj. Winchester for a dead-perfect evil magician. Wallace Shawn in a Woody Allen movie is like having ice cream on a slice of cherry pie; always a welcome presence. You may also see a familiar face or two but can never place the name; John Schuck, a veteran movie and television actor (Sgt. Charlie Enright on TV's McMillon and Wife) is one of them. It is apparent that the writing was crafted for the star players, and terrific casting took care of the rest. Movies can be many things. Some can inspire, some can be extremely poignant. Others can just simply entertain. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion falls under the entertaining types. A perfect diversion as a weekend matinee, or as a follow-up to a nice dinner out, Scorpion does not make use of low-brow humor and stays true to the 1940's flair the movie, itself, portrays. With romantic interests like Helen Hunt and Charlize Theron, Woody Allen gives all men hope as we get older.

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• Excellent Woody Allen Love Triangle

  LibertadBGreen2004-10-31

  I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys Woody Allen movies. I've always enjoyed the movies he's starred in, the roles he's played, and his self-deprecating yet undaunted sense of humor, and this movie proved true to all of this! Besides the comedy I expected in a Woody Allen movie, I found suspense, an excellent plot, and even some heart-warming romance. Helen Hunt plays one of his character's antagonists, as well as his love interest, forming a three-dimensional love triangle or pyramid, with Dan Aykroyd's character, their characters' boss, as the third member/cornerstone. Dan Aykroyd and Helen Hunt remained true to their forms in this movie, as the professional and unique actors they are, so if you like any or all three of these stars, you should enjoy "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion"!

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