Battle of the Netflix Stars #7

Bout #7: Battle of the Movies in Which Hugh Jackman Plays a Charming Bastard

Movie:	Deception	Scoop
Year:	2008	2006
Director:	Marcel Langenegger	Woody Allen
Star Power:	Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams	Hugh Jackman, Woody Allen, Scarlett Johansson, Ian MacShane
Plot:	Shy accountant Jonathan McQuarry (McGregor) goes about his humdrum existence auditing big-money corporations until, one night, an impossibly suave lawyer named Wyatt Bose (Jackman) breezes into his boring little world and offers him a joint. The bromance begins, and Wyatt shows his new pal how to have a good time (e.g., booze, ladies) before abruptly heading to London for vague, business-y reasons. But wouldn't you know it, turns out that Wyatt and Jonathan had "accidentally" switched cell phones! Almost immediately, Jonathan starts receiving lusty phone calls that end in him having anonymous hotel sex with gorgeous women. (And even though Jonathan hasn't had any action in ages, he is still AWESOME in the sack.) Soon, Jonathan realizes that he's been cashing in on Wyatt's sex club membership, but wants to opt out when he falls in love with one of the women - the mysterious S (Williams). Then RIDONK things start to happen, and Jonathan realizes he's being played by his good buddy, Wyatt, if that's even his real name (it's not), forcing Jonathan to finally find his balls. Or something like that.	After British reporter Joe Strombel (McShane) dies, he meets a woman in the afterlife who gives him the ultimate scoop - that Peter Lyman (Jackman), the son of über-aristocrat Lord Lyman, poisoned her after she discovered that he was the infamous serial murderer, the "Tarot Card Killer." When American journalism student Sondra Pransky (Johansson) volunteers to assist Sid "The Great Splendini" Waterman (Allen) in his magic show, the ghost of Strombel appears to Sondra in the dematerialization box and urges her to follow up on the story. From there, the bumbling pair of Sondra and Sid team up (posing as father and daughter) to get the goods on Peter, with whom Sondra is immediately smitten, and vice-versa. Even though she finds herself falling in love with the dashing Englishman, Sondra can't completely ignore some of the strange clues that start piling up, while Sid is completely convinced that the man shagging his "daughter" is guilty.
Pros:	Hugh Jackman (shirtless at some point, as he should be) and Ewan McGregor. TOGETHER. If these two did a movie where they just sat there and watched paint dry, I would enjoy it on some level.	Hugh Jackman (shirtless at some point, as he should be...and even in nothing but SWIM TRUNKS). Most of Woody Allen's dialogue is hilarious.
Cons:	Pretty much everything else. The whole thing is just so damned ridiculous. Especially the idea that just slapping some glasses on Ewan McGregor and slicking his hair down would make him completely unattractive to women. Oh, and his New York accent is totally whack. Fughettaboutit.	I can't think of anything really negative to say, but I still haven't figured out if I like Scarlett Johansson in this or if she's annoying. I go back and forth on it. On one hand, it's refreshing to see her as something other than the sultry sex bomb. But on the other hand, she seems to be trying to hard to be funny. But sometimes she is funny. So, I don't know.
My Thoughts:	I would watch this movie again. On mute.	I was really surprised by this because I've never been the biggest Woody Allen fan, but I loved his character. He cracked me up. The movie as a whole was very cute - something of a nod to older screwball comedies. I guess Allen die-hards and film snobs would probably write this movie off as silly or lacking substance, but they should just stick to sucking lemons.
Final Grade:	D*	B

* Put any other lead actors in it, and this stinkbomb easily gets an F.