The Curse of the Jade Scorpion is a 2001 film written and directed by Woody Allen. It's a 1940s-set screwball comedy that blends elements of romantic comedy with a mystery centered around a valuable jewel. 

Plot

The film is set in 1940 and focuses on the character of C.W. Briggs (played by Woody Allen), an insurance investigator working for an insurance company. Despite his talent for solving insurance fraud cases, Briggs is in conflict with Betty Ann Fitzgerald (played by Helen Hunt), a determined insurance inspector who openly criticizes his lifestyle and approach to work.

Things take a turn when both of them, during a company party, are hypnotized by a magician named Voltan (played by David Ogden Stiers) and inadvertently become accomplices in a series of jewel thefts. The key to the thefts appears to be an ancient jewel called the "Jade Scorpion," and C.W. Briggs and Betty Ann Fitzgerald find themselves caught up in the search for the culprit.

The comedy unfolds as Briggs and Fitzgerald try to solve the mystery and deal with the complications of their situation, which includes post-hypnotic amnesia and an unlikely love story. The film captures the atmosphere of the 1940s and offers a mix of humor and intrigue.

Director: Woody Allen

Writer: Woody Allen

Producers: Letty Aronson, Helen Robin, and Jack Rollins

Music: David Carbonara

Cinematographer: Fei Zhao

Main Cast:

• Woody Allen as C.W. Briggs
• Helen Hunt as Betty Ann Fitzgerald
• Dan Aykroyd as Chris Magruder
• Charlize Theron as Laura Kensington
• Elizabeth Berkley as Jill
• John Schuck as Mr. Hirsch
• Brian Markinson as Al
• Wallace Shawn as George Bond
• David Ogden Stiers as Zoltan

Major Awards: The film did not win major Awards.

Box Office Gross: The film collected approximately $18,000,000 at the box office.

Critical Reception:  The film is known for its retro style, Woody Allen's trademark humor, and the performances of the cast. Although it did not win major Awards, the film was appreciated by critics for its nostalgic charm and its ensemble cast.

My Opinion: Great movie with a story all fun and full of twists and turns. An insurance investigator, a bit odd, but good and upstanding is mesmerized in a cabaret show and finds himself looking for the perpetrator of many jewel thefts. But those thefts are hits by a character above suspicion.

Everything runs smoothly in this film : actors perfectly at ease, direction that doesn't miss the slightest detail to highlight comic situations, excellent cinematography.

For those who have seen other Allen films, especially those after 2000, this is a must-see film, mature, funny, never dull.

The interior scenes, both in the insurance offices and in private homes, are textbook, while in the exteriors, they are uneven either because of insufficient lighting in some cases and either because of hasty shooting in my opinion.

Actors all good, and Charlize Theron (Woody's enemy friend, to be clear) is also very good, but, as often happens in Allen's films, she is a dramatic actress, with an overly serious expression and acting, cast in a comic film, or at least, in a comic comedy. This ritual was repeated with Mia Farrow, Diane Keaton and, in this film, with Charlize Theron. All the films where these very good actresses have acted, have lost , if we want to give the numbers, at least 10% of comedy in my opinion.

But, apart from that, all the others, protagonists and compamari, gave a big comic boost to this film that, at its release, had not liked much. But today, seeing him again, I find it very pleasing.

Trailer inglese.