Music and visual style are backdrops to the great Woody Allen films, but I notice them more in the weaker ones. “The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” (2001) is driven by Duke Ellington and other jazz staples, and the 1940 set decoration leaves nothing to complain about.
Not up to par
But the fact that I notice these things as strengths underscores that this isn’t up to Woody’s usual standards of writing and direction. It’s part of a two-film stretch with 2002’s “Hollywood Ending” where the editing is loose, some roles are miscast, and I feel like I’m watching respectable community theater more than a polished film.
Of those two films, “Curse” is better because it’s not as much of a comedic dud. It boasts a number of potential directions once Allen’s CW Briggs and Helen Hunt’s Betty Ann Fitzgerald are hypnotized and used as jewel thieves by David Ogden Stiers’ deep-voiced Voltan.
“The Curse of the Jade Scorpion” (2001)
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen, Helen Hunt, Dan Aykroyd
The duo works together at an insurance agency – CW is a veteran investigator and “Fitz” is a new efficiency specialist. The latter job calls to mind modern corporate strategies; I’m thinking of the consultants in “Office Space.”
However, Allen stays true to the 1940 setting. He amusingly draws attention to it with blunt period-appropriate references to the likes of Max Baer, Mussolini and “that German chancellor with the mustache.”
Doesn’t rise above ‘amusing’
It’s a shame that “Curse” merely stays at the level of “amusing.” The obvious joke is set up when CW and Fitz grab a drink and immediately exchange insults. But then Voltan’s hypnosis makes them deeply in love if they hear a trigger word.
Eventually – after an unusually long wait for an Allen comedy – we do get the requisite scene of CW being taken aback by Fitz’s hypnotically induced interest in him. But it’s not funny enough to be worth the wait.
I’ve liked Allen’s and Hunt’s performances in other things, but here they clash rather than mesh. I believe the “hate” side of their love-hate relationship, but even that is not something to take seriously.
It’s brief fun when CW investigates himself without realizing it. Bob Arctor in Philip K. Dick’s “A Scanner Darkly” comes to mind. That’s the first time I’ve compared Allen to PKD, so that’s … something.
Miscasting himself?
Sometimes settling for takes where he fumbles lines, Allen feels like an overworked director stepping into a stage role when both the lead actor and the understudy fall ill. He was 66 at the time and CW seems tailored for someone around 46.
CW’s love interests include Elizabeth Berkley and Charlize Theron, both about 40 years younger than Allen. In the latter case, she throws herself at him. The suggestion is that Theron’s Laura is a nutcase, but the actress plays her straight-ahead as a woman who truly is sexually attracted to CW.
Allen peppers in jokes at his expense – “Usually I’m drawn to athletic, muscular men,” Laura says – but the fact remains that I don’t believe for a second that Laura is into CW, unless she’s under hypnotic suggestion herself. (But she’s not.)
The pairing of Allen with much younger women is a loaded topic. But it’s one he has commented on with zest and honesty – most famously in “Manhattan,” which pairs adult Allen with teenager Mariel Hemingway. But “Curse” doesn’t comment on it, so I’m left to think about the casting choice.
“Curse of the Jade Scorpion” has some things to recommend it, especially for hardcore Allen fans. It has a strong mystery-comedy premise, and some supporting actors are enjoyable, like Dan Aykroyd and Wallace Shawn. And those 1940 trappings are diverting.
But if the film itself were a mystery, this one has too many loose ends.