Le sortilège du scorpion de Jade

"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.

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).

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 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"!