Scarlett Johansson Deserved Better: The One Creative Misstep That Sabotaged Woody Allen’s Scoop

Scarlett Johansson is excellent when a movie actually lets her be excellent. In Woody Allen's Scoop, that did not really happen, and the film kept finding new ways to trip over itself. If you ever felt like her knack for sharp, layered characters got swapped out for cutesy hijinks and sloppy details, you were not imagining it.

From Match Point's heat to Scoop's shrug

Match Point had Johansson on fire and the film to match it: a worldwide gross around $85 million (per Box Office Mojo) and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Then came Scoop, where she plays Sondra Pransky, a journalism student written as naive and a little dim — basically the opposite of the commanding presence audiences had just seen. The tonal pivot felt off, and her performance got boxed in by a role with less wit and less depth. Even the continuity could not keep it together: during the garden-party bench scene, her hair keeps switching between being tucked into her glasses and hanging outside of them. Not the end of the world, but emblematic.

To be fair, the movie still made money. Scoop cleared a bit north of $40 million on a tiny $4 million budget. The audience showed up; the craft did not always do the same.

The behind-the-scenes stuff that pulled you out of the movie

• Edvard Grieg is misspelled as "Edvard Greig" in the soundtrack credits — the kind of slip that makes music nerds twitch. This and other goofs are cataloged on IMDb.
• Sondra casually says her dad has sensitivity in "lower # 7." That is not a thing. In the U.S. numbering system, tooth 7 is on the upper arch. In the U.K. system, a tooth labeled 7 does not exist.
• Johansson's lapel-mic transmitter pops into view behind her waist more than once. Once you see it, you cannot unsee it.
• The script says tarot cards are hidden under a "French horn," but the prop is actually a Conn 16E Mellophonium. It is missing its mouthpiece the first time we see it and then mysteriously has one later.
• Plot logic wobble: Peter Lyman never asks how Sondra got into his locked room to find those suspicious tarot cards. The movie just... hopes you will not wonder.

Johansson on working with Allen

Whatever you think of Scoop, Johansson has said the collaboration itself was creatively energizing for her, especially when they were going for comedy.

"It is different working with Woody as an actor, because I get to spend more time with him - which is great. It is a little bit different doing a comedy with him, because he is a comic master and that is his gift."

The other conversation: Johansson, Allen, and the fallout question

Johansson's comments about Woody Allen have been resurfacing again. In a recent chat with The Telegraph, she was asked if defending him in a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter ended up costing her. Her answer was candid:

"I guess it is hard to know. You never know what the domino effect is, exactly. But my mom always encouraged me to be myself, [to see] that it is important to have integrity, and stand up for what you believe in."

The broader tension has not gone anywhere. Dylan Farrow's longstanding allegations continue to divide the industry; Allen has consistently denied them. Johansson, who worked with him on Match Point, Scoop, and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, told THR in 2019: "I love Woody. I believe him, and I would work with him anytime. I have been very direct with him, and he is very direct with me. He maintains his innocence, and I believe him." She added a note of restraint too: "At the same time, I think it is also important to know when it is not your turn... sometimes it is just not your time. And that is something I have understood more as I have matured."

Meanwhile, some actors have sworn off working with Allen, while others — including Javier Bardem and Anjelica Huston — have publicly backed him. Allen told The Wall Street Journal in 2025 that he expected "more common sense" from people judging him, and said the allegations should be seen as "dicey looking."

So where does that leave Scoop? For me, the movie's uneven writing and a pile of fixable errors did far more to hamper Johansson than any lack of effort on her part. The talent was there; the creative choices were not. If you want to revisit it with all that in mind, Scoop is available to rent on Apple TV.

What did you spot in Scoop that pulled you out — or worked better than people give it credit for? Drop your take.