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Join UsStar Cast: Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper, Rufus Sewell, Keeley Hawes
Director: Philip Martin
What’s Good: Seeing Billie Piper in a leading role is always great, and she kills it in this role, even if there is not much meat on it.
What’s Bad: The story itself is pretty boring, and there are never enough stakes to make the outcome of the film feel like it is at risk of not happening.
Loo Break: You can go to the bathroom at any point before the final interview, and even after the interview itself, there is still space to go.
Watch or Not?: There are better journalistic thrillers out there, so this is not an easy recommendation.
Language: English (with subtitles).
Available On: Netflix
Runtime: 102 Minutes.
User Rating:
The Royal Family is very much a pillar of what it means to live in any British country; however, what once was a symbol of strength and stability is quickly becoming something much uglier and ridiculous. Scoop tells another controversial story about a member of the royal family, Prince Andrew, and his connection to one of the most infamous figures in recent memory, Jeffrey Epstein, known s*x offender and s*x-trafficker. The subject of the film is strong, but the execution makes it quite boring.
Scoop Movie Review: Script Analysis
Tension is a required element in almost every movie, no matter the genre, because the feeling of anticipation for the next plot or character development should be something the audience wants to see happening on screen; without this feeling, a movie is just a series of moving pictures and nothing else, this anticipation that goes beyond the images is what makes the movie truly magic. Sadly, Scoop is made in such a way that the film never manages to collect enough elements and moments to generate any tension out of the plot, which is basically nonexistent, or the characters.
Being based on real events should not mean that the audience should be delivered exactly what they expect; this is why there are the famous “creative liberties” in films like this, but it seems director Philip Martin decided that what people know about this is enough, which is a strange decision because then what is the point of watching the film? Audiences would actually get a better picture of the event by googling the names involved or simply going to the Wikipedia page.
The story decides to focus on the character of Sam McAlister, a producer for BBC News, but outside that, there is nothing about this character other than she is a mother, and she doesn’t spend much time with her son, a plot point that goes nowhere, which makes you wonder why including it at all. The rest of the characters are all just plot devices, and little can be known about them by the way they talk or move. Emily Maitlis is the other big character, but she feels even more underdeveloped than Sam.
The film focuses all of its running time on Sam getting the interview with Prince Andrew, but there is never doubt that the interview will happen, not only because we know it happened in real life, but because the movie makes no effort to create obstacles for it, the obstacles that are in there are just as easily overcome that it feels like a waste of time to even mention them, especially when they seem to be easily resolved by making a phone call. There is no drama or conflict in the film, which makes it hard to generate interest in the audience.
Scoop Movie Review: Star Performance
Overall, the performances were quite good; all the main actors involved in the project were quite good and experienced, so it was hard to find fault in any of their performances. As I said previously, it is always a delight to see Billie Piper in a leading role. I believe that she is quite underrated and should be given this type of spotlight more often. Meanwhile, Gillian Anderson is always great as well, but her role here is very superficial. We can tell Emily is very good at her job but not much else; there is nothing there to chew on.
However, it is the always underrated Rufus Sewell who steals the show in the role of Prince Andrew, a performance that paints the royal family member as a complete buffoon, someone not worthy of defending. Sewell walks the fine line between dry and over the top, and the result is quite unique, to say the least. Keeley Hawes also plays a part in the film, but her role is truly disappointing, not only for the way her character is explored but because there is just so little for her to do other than look around.
Scoop Movie Review: Direction, Music
Scoop is competent when it comes to its technical aspects, as you can definitely see that it is a movie, and it tells a story, no matter how boring it is, there are characters and sets, and so, but sadly, the visual presentation of the film is completely flat, there are no gorgeous or interesting shots to look at, and just like the story, it seems Martin was completely satisfied with presenting things the way they are, which could be the point of the whole thing, but makes for a flat looking movie.
The editing and music are all on point, but it is here that you can definitely feel that most movies made right now are better to be seen at home, through a streaming service, instead of cinemas. This movie and many others just don’t reach the standard we would like to see on the big screen, something that would have been unthinkable 20 years in the past.
Scoop Movie Review: The Last Word
Scoop takes a very complex and interesting subject and makes it boring by developing the most uninteresting possible angle instead of focusing on how this news affects the world around it. The film has the luck of having great actors on board, but they cannot do much to elevate a script that feels bored and uninterested in its own subject. The film’s presentation also feels quite flat, and while it is a well-made piece of filmmaking, there seems to be no reason to watch it other than to learn a bit about the subject if you know nothing about it.
Scoop Trailer
Scoop was released on 05 April 2024 on Netflix.
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