Scoop

Based on true events, Scoop follows several journalists, including Gillian Anderson’s Emily Maitlis, Billie Piper’s Sam McAlister, and Romola Garai’s Esme Wren, as they attempt to secure an interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. It’s compelling stuff that is, for the most part, employed to engaging and engrossing effect by Philip Martin, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Peter Moffat and Geoff Bussetil, delivers a matter-of-fact drama that benefits from its raft of above-average performances – with, in particular, Anderson and an unrecognizable Sewell offering up terrific, commanding work that anchors the proceedings on a recurring basis. It’s clear, as well, that Scoop succeeds as a solid primer on the Prince Andrew scandal and the reporters that broke the case, and while the Wikipedia-like bent of the picture’s narrative does pave the way for a few lulls, it’s hard to deny the impact and effectiveness of a tense final stretch that revolves around the buildup to that aforementioned interview – which does, in the final analysis, cement the film’s place as an entertaining endeavor that is, at times, more spellbinding than one might’ve anticipated.

*** out of ****