Scoop

The subject matter of the interview was interesting, but you are better off just watching the real life interview of this is what you are interested in. Andrew's serious character flaws are already well known and we don't see anything new here. The film tried to flesh out the events surrounding the interview without much success, possibly because these events weren't particularly interesting or insightful. It served more as a self-congratulatory vehicle for the journalists involved, I have to admit the back slapping from the girls club was a bit sickly. Some good performances but not enough to elevate this mediocre production.

I have just watched Scoop, and there are a few aspects worth mentioning. First, as well known as the underlying story is, the true interest lies in the set up of the unterview. Opportunity is everything in a scoop,not to mention contacts. But how the reporter/producer seizes the opportunity is what's remarkable. Rufus Sewell is a convincing Andrew, bloated, not too clever, a bit childish in his assumption that he's beyond reproach as "mummy's favourite child". But what was astonishing for me was the line he utters before granting the interview: asked what the Queen said about it, he replies "she trusts my judgment". This is, for me, a torpedo to his flotation line, and says a lot about the late monarch. Either she didn't trust "his" judgment and therefore knew he would throw himself under a two-decker bus, given her a good reason to take him out of the spotlight, or she actually "did" trust his judgment, in which case she was blinded by her motherly feelings. Whatever the case, I found the scene very telling. Worth watching for the minor details.

Most people watching this will know the main events of the Prince's relationships, the interview and it's consequences. The film itself focuses on what we don't know: the build up and what was going on in the BBC at the time. Piper, Anderson, Hawes and Sewell are good actors, playing their roles to perfection. The writers create what drama they can from events the viewer knows. I understood more about why the interview happened, and why it was so successful (from an interviewer perspective). There is not much on the victims, but that's not the point. It was the sense of invulnerability that was cracked, not the crimes revealed.