Le sortilège du scorpion de Jade

Comedy set in 1940 about an insurance investigator (Woody Allen) locking horns with an efficiency expert (Helen Hunt) while a string of suspicious jewel robberies are going on. Only average Allen comedy...but that's still 70% better than the typical Hollywood film.

It's fairly well-acted...Allen is, frankly, way too old for this (he's 65 and he's getting women in their 20s and 30s??? PLEASE!) but he gives a good performance; Hunt is simply wonderful...she looks great in the 40s outfits and her verbal sparring with Allen was hilarious; Charlize Theron looks fantastic but is shamefully wasted and (in a huge surprise) Elizabeth Berkeley actually gives a halfway decent performance!

The script is OK if a tad unbelievable. And the movie looks fantastic...the costumes and the sets really evoke the 1940s. So, it's OK, but no great shakes.

I watched this on network TV last year on a Woody Allen special. It was a very funny comedy with a lot of references to classical noir movies of the thirties and forties. A typical Woody Allen love story comedy which I enjoyed a lot.

The style reminded me a bit of Hollywood Ending. Helen Hunt was also very good.

It was a take on a bunch of film noirs from the 1940's (one that most likely influenced this one was The Big Sleep). The rest of the leading cast was Dan Aykroyd, the manager of an insurance firm in which Allen works, and Helen Hunt, Aykroyd's secretary who always has time to insult Allen (if you know anything about old films, you'll probably realize just how close these two are, and I don't mean just in the office).

The film follows this insurance firm as they all try to search for a bunch of lost jewels, not realizing that someone in the office is borderline guilty. The group goes to a nightclub to celebrate Wallace Shawn's 50th birthday, and the entertainment is a "magician" who ends up putting both Allen and Hunt under hypnosis and convinces them to do his will and also that they're in love with each other, with only the utterance of two words: "Madagascar" and "Constantinople" (gee, it'd be a shame if these two words were uttered later in the movie to advance the plot).

First of all, since I am such a loyal fan of Woody's films, this may not be the most objective critique in the world. I have since my 18th year thoroughly enjoyed his witty dialogue, his comedic and sometimes darker explorations into life, love, and death. In addition, I adore the variety of early jazz scores that he uses for his films. That being said, Woody at 66 years of age has showed no signs of slowing down in his flm career, delivering by far the brightest and wittiest comedy I've viewed this year, in "Curse of the Jade Scorpion". The film is a homage to the Pulp films of yesteryear. It's set in 1940, Woody plays the role of an aging detective in an insurance company. He has cracked many huge cases, receiving information from street contacts, and relying heavily on gut instinct and dumb luck. He can't stand the new efficiency expert (Helen Hunt) who is smarter than he is, younger than he is, poses a threat to his job, and can't stand him either. During a dinner party for a fellow detective's birthday, they are both hypnotized by the magician Zolton, who uses the powers of the 'Jade Scorpion' to make them fall deeply in love with one another. He snaps them out of it just as they are about to kiss, but Zolton never releases them from the key word that can at anytime send them deep into suggestive hypnosis. Later on, Zolton calls CW Briggs, hypnotizes him with the keyword, and uses him as a pawn to rob jewelry from rich estates.

The casting in the film was excellent. There are supposed film "experts" out there who believe that Woody is too old for the lead in this film, and that it is unbelievable how Charlize Theron or Helen Hunt would ever fall for him. I wholeheartedly disagree. Throughout the film, Woody's character is not displayed as a handsome or romantic gent, in fact quite the opposite. In it he is called grubby, an inchworm, and a cockroach, just to name a few. Theron only wants to have sex with him as an experiment, since she is used to handsome and muscular men, not shrimpy and ugly ones. Helen Hunt is hypnotized into loving him, and vice versa, but when they're not under Jade's spell then they absolutely loathe each other ( I won't go any further into this so I don't spoil the film's ending.) Although Woody is ageing, his performance was outstanding, not losing a step as he delivers wise cracks and witty comments, one after the other. Helen Hunt also performs flawlessly and was actually a treat to watch her. As for the rest of the cast, Dan Aykroyd is decent in a small yet significant role, as well as Charlize Theron and Elizabeth Berkeley.

The cinematography and the visual setting for the film in jazzy 1940 is absolutely exquisite, it is much more polished then his earlier works. The writing is excellent, as I've said before, Woody hasn't lost one step in his writing or his performance. The jazz soundtrack is, as usual, very pleasant and fits very well with the scenery. Overall, "Curse of the Jade Scorpion" ranks as one of my favorite Woody films. If you are a fan of his previous light comedies then you will definitely enjoy this little film. So what are you waiting for? Head up to the theatre and see it on the big screen.

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"!