This is a Woody Allen creation and it is said that he wrote it especially for Scarlett Johansson who had so impressed him when he made Match Point with her.

She is a student journalist over from the US and staying in London.  She gets the chance to land a scoop – the trouble is that the information comes from the ghost of a dead journalist (Ian McShane) who received some important information from one of his fellow dead (on what looks like a dark boat ride with the Grim Reaper on the Styx).  He feels an affinity for Sondra (Johansson) and appears to her in the middle of a trick on a London stage performed by eccentric prestidigiteur, Sidney (Woody Allen).  He keeps returning to urge on the investigation into a wealthy son of an aristocrat, Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman) who may have committed a series of killings, the Tarot Card Murders.

Sondra does a bit of amateur sleuthing, pretending that Sidney is her father – and Woody Allen has a high old time pretending to be nouveau riche American while still eager to show his card tricks to the nobs.  Peter Lyman is charming.  Sondra falls for him.  Did he or didn’t he?

Woody Allen knows how to do comedy but his plotting for a serial killer mystery is not too expert.  Nevertheless, it is a soufflé of a comedy drama with the cast enjoying their characterisations and the opportunity to enunciate some Allen one-liners.

This is Woody Allen’s second British film and, while there are some satirical moments, his screenplay seems to be in some awe and reverence for the ‘upper classes’ and their lifestyle.  Only an American…

After less that memorable turns in The Prestige and The Black Dahlia, Scarlett Johansson reminds us that she can act.  Hugh Jackman has no trouble in being debonair.

This is a moderate helping rather than a scoop.

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