There have been great films about journalism over the years. Movies like All the President’s Men, Good Night and Good Luck, Spotlight, and Frost/Nixon come to mind. There’s a crackle to the dialogue that leads to a usual showdown between a legendary reporter and an influential figure in the field, reminiscent of the confrontations we would see in Westerns back in their heyday. You can practically see a tumbleweed skip across the studio floor.
Scoop is another addition that represents a new phase of journalistic films, such as the powerful She Said and the eye-opening Bombshell. They shine a light on sexual harassment, assault, and misconduct, particularly in the workplace and other areas of power dynamics abuse. Scoop holds its own in that regard, recreating a remarkable dumpster fire of an interview with its subject that shows arrogant manipulation and delusional deception regarding the power they wield and their arrogance regarding their importance to the world.
Scoop follows two women who work behind the scenes to uncover a connection between the Royal Family and a federal conviction for a sex trafficking operation. The film opens with a thrilling scene of a photojournalist (Connor Swindells) staking out a home in New York City, noting girls who cannot be older than 20 leaving the affluent property. The subject then walks into Central Park, where he finally gets the shot of a lifetime.
That photo captures Prince Andrew (The Diplomat’s Rufus Sewell) and a man we now know as the infamous Jeffrey Epstein. The man who took the million-dollar photo alerts his friend Sam McAlister (Penny Dreadful’s Billie Piper), an unorthodox producer at the British news outlet Newsnight. Sam begins working on “the scoop of the decade” with Esme Wren (Romola Garai) and the established face of Newsnight, Emily Maitlis (Gillian Anderson).
Scoop is based on McAlister’s bestselling nonfiction book, Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews. That work provides an inside look at the process and outcome of BBC Newsnight’s program, Prince Andrew and the Epstein Scandal. We described the interview as a dumpster fire above, which most would say undersold it. The social media reaction indicated it was more than a car accident, but “a plane crashing into an oil tanker, causing a tsunami, triggering a nuclear explosion.” And boy, does Scoop capture that and then some.
Director Philip Martin (The Crown) and writers Geoff Bussetil (Heart of Stone) and Peter Moffat (Your Honor) bring to life the downright hubris of a once-beloved political figure. By all accounts, the combination of almost childlike naivety and arrogance in burying himself with jaw-dropping revelations and answers must have prompted immediate resignations from his public relations team. In the background, you can practically hear American author Charles Bukowski saying, “The polite thing to do when you are dead is to bring a shovel.”
Having never had the experience of working in a newsroom, we cannot possibly verify the accuracy of the events on screen. However, considering the source material, the film does an effective job; we could even call it engaging when learning about the painstaking and tedious preparation it takes to pull off such an interview. That being said, considering the reputations on the line, one would have liked to see the tension and stakes more at the forefront, even for those working for Newsline.
Yet we know there is nothing the British media loves more than a royal family scandal, which has been their bread and butter since Princess Diana divorced herself from them in the ’90s. And that’s where Scoop finds its niche because this scandal was set ablaze on social media, where simply classic films of this ilk cannot look through that specific lens. Scoop is worth watching because that aspect represents the phenomenon of “the wisdom of the crowd,” the collective public outcry was more accurate and insightful than what a person in power was portraying.
Scoop captures the lack of humility (and humanity) with Prince Andrew. That also includes the cohort of royal staff who thought they could talk their way out of such a scandal because of their titles. Scoop is a good, not great, film about journalism, which is fine because it doesn’t have to be. It’s a story about bringing truth to power. This speaks to the importance and honor of reporting. Let’s face it: It is sometimes lost in today’s clickbait media strategies and analytics.
Scoop is the marriage of both.
Scoop will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix on April 5, 2024.
Scoop is a fascinating and engrossing tale of modern-day journalism's ability to tell truth to power by allowing the villain to tell his story and prompting him to bring a shovel.
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GVN Rating 7
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I am a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. However, I still put on my pants one leg at a time, and that’s when I often stumble over. When I’m not writing about movies, I patiently wait for the next Pearl Jam album and pass the time by scratching my wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. I was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs, but I chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find my work on InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Hidden Remote, Music City Drive-In, Nerd Alert, and Film Focus Online.