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The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is a 2001, comedy crime film, written, directed and starring Woody Allen. The film also features renowned actors; Helen Hunt as Miss Fitzgerald, Dan Aykroyd as Mr. Magruder as well as a very young Charlize Theron.The film is set in New York in the year 1940, gambling, larceny, addiction and infidelity is at the core of these characters and the film. We follow the story of CW Briggs who is an insurance investigator at North Coast Insurance. Later on Briggs and a group of people as well as his possible love interest Miss Fitzgerald go to see a hypnotist where they get programmed to react a certain way when a certain word is used. They are not aware of the fact that the hypnotist wants to use this control to his advantage. They suddenly become puppets in his master puppeteer's plan. The film seems to look like an old black-and-white Noir film, just in colour this time, and the witty banter and comments exchanged between characters, especially that of Briggs and Fitzgerald, makes them more lovable towards the audience. In the foreground we see characters living in the mid-ground of apartment buildings and the insurance company. They join the background when we see Briggs going out to do as the Hypnotist said. Allen stays to the traditional linear storyline, following only one story line (which is that of Briggs) clearly staying to the recipe of cause-and-effect, logic and rational. Allen cleverly uses contrast in the execution of the characters. Briggs is seen as a more hyper character saying what's on his mind in the most creative ways, as well as covering his own behind in the most clever of ways. The other characters being more calm and collected in their lines and execution of their character. It is also definitely seen in the difference in behaviour between when Fitzgerald and Briggs jump from being themselves to being controlled by the hypnotist. We also see the actors and actresses giving not only giving great work, but also giving such theatrical performances that at some stage it felt like I was watching a theatre piece and not a film. By keeping the look of the film warm and almost retro, the director succeeds in creating a film that is visually as enjoyable as the story itself.The film is also presented as a satirical Noir film. The use of warm colour and mundane shapes make this film easy to watch, and almost sooths you as you go along for the ride. There are crimes being committed, investigations being held, our protagonist confronted with beautiful women and his own hormones, just in this case our hero is not your normal Noir hero, he's the underdog, the loser. They guy who has wanted attention his whole life.Like in most of Allen's films, such as 1977's Annie Hall, 2013's Blue Jasmine and 2014's Magic in the Moonlight, we are clearly aware of the space in which the story takes place, as well as which perspective from where the story is told from, in this case the character of Briggs. The title of the film and the content of the film go hand in hand. Fitzgerald and Briggs are under the control of the Jade Scorpion. Doing as the hypnotist wishes and not asking anything. It makes you think that maybe we are all just puppets in the hands of a great or evil puppeteer. Aren't we all just instruments? Then there's the recurring carnival music that plays when Briggs or Fitzgerald goes into their larcenist hypnosis. This makes me feel like he's putting the people on display, saying humans are made to be viewed and made to be manipulated, because in the end their minds are stronger than their bodies, but it is so easy to hack those minds, thus so easy to control those bodies. The characters in this film are also a lot older than me at this stage and they all have been married at some stage, but none of it turned out the way they wanted it to be. People cheat on each other and even when they judge the act of infidelity we have two characters, Fitzgerald and Magruder engaging in a heated affair. This comments strongly on the legitimacy of marriages, what do they really mean, when people are so eager to break them. We see people who are filled with addiction, Briggs with his gambling with the horses, Fitzgerald who has tequila at 10 in the morning, downing a bottle in a matter of seconds, as well as a bullpen filled with drifting smoke from the smoking staff. We are also faced with the idea of mental illness, what is reality, if we are all just puppets in the hands of a master pupeteer... We see Fitzgerald wanting to jump out of the window just when Magruder, (who has a wife) tells her he can't be with her. The film also highlights the power of the human mind and the senses of the human as strong and durable. Because there was nothing Briggs could do on his own about the hypnotist and his assistant, because he didn't know what was going on and it was his mind that made him do what he was doing. We also see a slow and steady love story that makes us realize that maybe the one you were meant to be with was right under your nose, because even when their feelings for each other don't come out until the end, Briggs and Fitzgerald behave as if they are an old married couple. In the end we see them together, but only after Fitzgerald's secret word is said. I then started to ask myself, what is love, is it just an infatuation that can't last, or are we so hypnotized by the idea of love or a strange love story that we are willing to settle, like most of the characters in this film? How intoxicating or toxic is love actually? Because in the end all the characters are playing games with each other, this is shown much more clearly with the sly way the hypnotist uses hypnosis to force people to do what he wants, Magruder holding Fitzgerald on a line, postponing to talk to his wife, but rather keeping Fitzgerald under wraps and not letting anyone know what's really going on. We also see a film about men being attracted to strong women, men like Briggs, and women seeking independence and adventure as with the characters of Fitzgerald and the erotic supreme queen, Laura Kensington. On an imitational level the film succeeds to create a story that doesn't only feel plausible, but it creates a world that was so long ago, but it feels so real and tangible right now. On a formalist level, we don't see Allen really playing around with symbolic composition, the film's composition is as real as possible. He intuitively uses the elements of a realistic, yet theatrical, film.And then on an emotional level we see the film excelling in making us feel sympathetic towards the characters, in the way the music flows from one scene to the next. The way Allen and Hunt so carefully and steadily create their chemistry on stage, as well as the believability of the whole situation, even though he threw in something as strange and odd as hypnosis. In the end I found myself really enjoying this film. It's not one of my favourite films, but it's definitely not one of my least favourite. You start to wonder if Allen is really playing a character, or if he's just being himself and living out his own life frame for frame. In the end it made me feel hopeful about life and love, saying that you have to take chances on yourself and other people, and that sometimes just the right word can change your whole life.
Robert J. Maxwell
This has gotten some crummy reviews but it's not all that bad, even if not among Woody Allen's best. One of the things that makes it watchable is that the plot GOES somewhere. Somewhere around this time, Allen was turning out thin plots full of rows but lacking good jokes, like "Manhattan Murder Mystery." Here Woody is an insurance investigator who looks into high-end jewel thefts. He works in a crowded office that is being rearranged by an efficiency expert, Helen Hunt, whom he hates. At a nightclub both Allen and Hayes are hypnotized and left with an open post-hypnotic trigger, the word "Constantinople" in Allen's case, and "Madagascar" for her.The villainous stage performer, "The Jade Scorpion," calls them up at awkward hours of the night, triggers the hypnotic trance, and has them carry out heists for him. Allen becomes the chief suspect. And all of this mishigas takes place in a tangled web of relationships and buried lust of the kind that possesses Allen the film maker.The air is filled with insults and wisecracks, mainly from Allen. Some are pretty enjoyable. Allen plays his familiar nervous wreck, stuttering, put upon, and thoroughly confused. The "girls" -- and what girls they are -- look appealingly 1940-ish. The three principal women look great -- Elizabeth Berkeley, Charlize Theron, and Helen Hunt. If there's a problem with them, it's that they wear too many clothes. Shame.The musical score is of the genre that Woody Allen feels most comfortable with, period recording of Duke Ellington and the like -- "Sophisticated Lady," "How High the Moon," "Sunrise Serenade." I kind of like it too, so much more affecting than listening to some gangsta threaten to rip my head off and pee down my neck cavity.You'll probably enjoy it and smile from time to time. I don't think it will bore you; it moves too quickly.
Hitchcoc
What the heck. An old school Woody Allen movie. He plays his little schmuck to perfection. The one liners reign supreme. This is a throwback to those B-Detective movies of the early forties. Helen Hunt plays an emotionless efficiency expert who immediately treads on Woody's toes. He is an excellent insurance investigator, saving the company millions, but one day he gets himself hypnotized by David Ogden Stiers who uses his power over our hero to pull off jewel heists. From then on it's totally unbelievable stuff, with a magic word causing the two principle characters to do the will of the evil hypnotist. There is nice chemistry between the two leads and you know that despite their animus, there could be something positive down the road. Dan Aykroyd plays a boorish boss who is after hunt, but has been unwilling to call it off with his wife till now. Just a funny piece of fluff, but quite engaging.
leonblackwood
Review: This is another average movie from Woody Allen, about a man and woman who get hypnotised to steal jewellery. The man works for a insurance company, who investigates claims, and the lady has been hired to save money for the company. The jokes weren't that funny and the storyline seemed far fetched. The whole movie was set around the 1940's and the director done well to portray the period well, but I couldn't take Woody Allen's annoying one liners which are typical from some of his earlier work. The chemistry between Helen Hunt and Allen was watchable and it was good to see Dan Akroyd as the head of the company, but the whole movie seemed to drag after a while and I must admit, I did struggle to stay awake. On the plus side, I liked the whole Woody Allen as a 1940's detective concept, but it was the storyline that let the movie down. Average!Round-Up: I'm still struggling to find Woody Allen's movies that funny, but I'm determined to find out why everyone wants to work with him. He does have a unique style of writing and his love for New York and troubled relationships, do work in some of his earlier projects, but I personally find his movies more entertaining when he isn't rambling on. I must admit, he always gets a brilliant cast and he does bring the best out of actors/actresses and his latest projects like the Blue Jasmine and Whatever Works were a great watch. It just seems like he lost his touch during the 90's. Anyway, I've still got quite a few Woody Allen movies on my rental list, so fingers crossed.Budget: $33million Worldwide Gross: $19million (Flop!)I recommend this movie to people who are into there Woody Allen movies about a man and woman who get hypnotised to rob expensive jewellery. 3\10
