Helen Hunt Filmography Part 14: Curse of the Jade Scorpion

Helen Hunt looks glam in this fun and fluffy Woody Allen movie.

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) is a comic noir in the vein of Bob Hope movies such as They Got Me Covered  (1943).

If you like noir, or noir satire, you’ll probably like this. If you like Woody Allen movies, you’ll probably like this. If you’re a Woody Allen super-fan, you apparently won’t like this, as their is a lot of disdain for this movie as a lesser Allen entry.

I’m a casual enjoyer of Allen, and I thought this was fun. 

Helen Hunt is back in boss mode, and that I am a fan of.

The story follows C. W. Briggs (Allen) an insurance investigator who is struggling to keep up with the efficiency and modern innovations that are being brought to the business by his nemesis and office manager, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Hunt). 

At a club for a coworker’s birthday celebration, Briggs and Fitzgerald are called up to be part of the show.

The magician performing hypnotizes them, and as a joke, makes them declare love for each other. When they come out of the trance they remember nothing, to the hilarity of their coworkers. 

Secretly though the magician chose Briggs on purpose, so he can rehypnotize him over the phone and use him to rob various wealthy homes of all their jewels. Because Briggs set up all the security systems for the insurance company, he’s able to disarm them without detection. 

A young and gorgeous Charlize Theron makes an appearance, mostly to be young and gorgeous and stroke Woody Allen’s ego.

Hijinks and confusion ensue. Briggs and Fitzgerald move from dislike to distrust and suspicion to love while hurling insults and invective at one another because that’s how movies like this work. 

Movies set in the 30’s have a particular charm because everyone dresses so damn well. I wouldn’t want to go back to having to dress like that, but I do appreciate the aesthetic. 

Overall the movie works for me, but the romance doesn’t quite. I accept it because that’s how movies like this work, but there isn’t much done to make it actually believable.

Most of the romantic development happens when one of the characters is under the influence of hypnosis, which raises consent concerns. At the end this is explained away when a character says that a person under the influence of hypnosis can’t be made to do something that they don’t want at some subliminal level to do.

Not essential, but definitely enjoyable.