Running time: 103 minutes
Starring: Woody Allen, Helen Hunt, Charlize Theron, Elizabeth Berkley, Dan Aykroyd, David Ogden Stiers
Rating 6 out of 10
New York's most prolific (and diminutive) film-maker Woody Allen surrounds himself with a bevy of glamorous and talented actresses - Helen Hunt, Charlize Theron, Elizabeth Berkley - for this effervescent romantic comedy set during the swinging '40s. The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion is riddled with the writer-director's trademark quips and one-liners ("There's a word for people who think everyone is conspiring against them" - "I know, perceptive!") and Allen and Hunt kindle a delightful screen chemistry recalling the screwball comedies of old. As with many of Allen's films, the plot is flimsy at best, but the lustrous performances and the screenplay's delicious wit more than compensate.
The film-maker plays CW Briggs, a dogged insurance investigator at a top New York firm, presided over by bumbling Chris Magruder (Dan Aykroyd). CW is the company's best man, priding himself on his ability to untangle the knottiest and most elaborate of scams and get inside the mind of the thief. His colleagues adore him - not least his slinky and seductive secretary Jill (Elizabeth Berkley) - but CW still feels under pressure to perform and to impress newly recruited efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt).
During a night on the town, CW and Betty Ann are brainwashed by crooked hypnotist Voltan Polgar (David Ogden Stiers), who uses the legendary Jade Scorpion pendant to transform the pair into mindless drones. Through carefully planted suggestions, Voltan commands CW and Betty Ann to steal priceless jewels from the company's richest clients. Inevitably, CW is quickly fingered for the thefts and, together with Betty Ann, he must prove his innocence.
The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion is one of Allen's most accessible and commercial features, with plenty of humour and romance to suit all tastes. The art and set directors beautifully evoke the glorious '40s, parading the lead actresses in a series of gorgeous frocks, capturing the daring and sensuality of an era gone but never forgotten.
The film isn't as thoughtful or weighty as some of Allen's most famous labours of love and some of the characterisation is slapdash indeed but, as cinematic trifles go, The Curse Of The Jade Scorpion certainly entertains.
