I watched Woody Allen’s Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) with my wife tonight and it was just as good as the previous times I have seen it. There are movies you call “good writing” because they hit a formula well. Those movies you wish you would have written yourself to collect the box office dough. I call these writers “masters of the obvious.” Then there are movies that are so articulate and so perfectly woven together that you prefer to just sit back and be entertained, knowing you could never produce such artistry. Woody Allen’s movies are usually like that for me. The first Allen movie that really caught my attention and made me say “wow” was this one.
It takes place in the 1940’s. A fairly simple plot is the canvas Allen uses for his unique, proven brand of romantic humor. Charlize Theron, Helen Hunt, and a few other bombshells make it a sexy romantic comedy that is quick on dialogue replete with the ingredient he is famous for: poking fun at himself. It’s a mystery, gumshoe detective tale with Woody Allen humor throughout. IMDB summarizes it as: “An insurance investigator and an efficency expert who hate each other are both hypnotized by a crooked hypnotist with a jade scorpion into stealing jewels.”
I saw this movie around 2002 when my parents had rented it and loaned to to me. Since then I must have rented it 3-4 times myself. Tonight my wife and I watched it again. It was a grade A couch cuddling movie and I recommend it. We needed a break from putting in our new Delta faucets bathroom fixture. Sometimes those romantic breaks can mean everything.
What’s your take on Woody Allen movies?
