The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
With its production budget of $26 million, this is Woody Allen's most expensive film.,The story took place in October 1940 and they were going to go to Paris for their honeymoon. The Nazis occupied Paris beginning in June, 1940.,Chris: You know, there's a word for people who think everyone is conspiring against them.
C.W.: I know, perceptive.,Featured in Woody Allen: A Life in Film (2002),Sophisticated Lady
Music by Duke Ellington
Lyrics by Mitchell Parish & Irving Mills
Performed by Duke Ellington
Courtesy of Columbia Records by arrangement with Sony Music Licensing,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.,