The Bottom Line: ‘The Prestige’ Is not Enough for Scarlett

Scarlett Johansson’s days as Woody Allen’s muse have quickly come and gone.

Now she’s Esquire magazine’s “Sexiest Woman Alive.”

No argument here.

And, despite her halfhearted protests, Johansson really can’t complain too much that we think first of her hourglass figure rather than her brain.

The 21-year-old Match Point seductress’ certainly isn’t averse to using sex to become a household name. She stripped for the cover of Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue; revealed to Allure magazine that she’s “open-minded” about the dirty deed but “not promiscuous;” and enjoyed getting between the sheets with eventual-boyfriend Josh Hartnett in The Black Dahlia. And her offer to go topless in The Island was rejected by director Michael Bay for ratings reasons (bet he second-guessed that decision after that Logan’s Run clone sunk without a trace).

Unfortunately, Johansson’s frank talk and flaunting of flesh has overshadowed her career since her Golden Globe-nominated turn in Match Point. The Black Dahlia, A Good Woman and Scoop hardly benefited from Johansson’s ascension from art-house darling to Hollywood’s brightest young thing.

Luckily, The Prestige doesn’t require much help from Johansson.

In this gripping and inventive Illusionist-style thriller from Memento director Christopher Nolan, magicians Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman engage in a deadly game of one-upmanship for stage supremacy in Victorian London. Johansson is the vivacious assistant whose affectations are torn between the two rivals. It’s a thankless supporting role that requires little more from Johansson than to spill out of a series of tight, revealing corsets. And her English accent sounds New Yorkese more often than not.

Nevertheless, The Prestige has more tricks up its sleeve than The Illusionist. It also comes complete with a twist ending (no, Jackman doesn’t pull Edward Norton out of a hat). So if The Illusionist has left audiences with an appreciation for conjuration, Johansson should break her bad box office spell of late.

Still, it’s hard to blame Johansson for the failure of The Black Dahlia, A Good Woman and Scoop.

Woody Allen’s offerings rise or fall on the strength of his writing and direction, not his cast. Unfortunately, Match Point’s promise went unfulfilled with the inconsequential screwball comedy Scoop. And Johansson was another in the long line of stars who tried and failed to trump John Cusack’s dead-on impersonation of the neurotic and nebbish Woodman.

As for The Black Dahlia, director Brian De Palma’s exploration of one of Tinseltown’s most intriguing unsolved murders was a lurid, unmitigated bore. And A Good Woman’s relocation to 1930s Italy didn’t suit Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan.

The Black Dahlia, The Prestige and Scoop do confirm that Johansson’s won the respect of those sitting in the director’s chair. You don’t luck into working with De Palma, Nolan and Allen—twice—over the course of one year. You have to prove yourself first, and that’s what Johansson’s done again and again since stealing Ghost World from Thora Birch.

Her upcoming roles—beyond the costume dramas The Other Boleyn Girl (2007) and Mary Queen of Scots (2008)— suggest a desire to give Lindsay Lohan a run for their money. The Nanny Diaries (2007) could be the next Devil Wears Prada if it clicks with the chick-lit crowd. And the heist yarn Brilliant sounds like her Entrapment.

Maybe Johansson knows nothing sells better than sex. Maybe she’s banking on her beauty to help her achieve the mainstream acceptance that eluded fellow indie sweethearts Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. That’s fine, but so far, proving she’s comfortable with her curves has yet to translate to big bucks at the box office. And it probably won’t, if she wants to continue to be taken seriously as an actress.

The Bottom Line
After The Prestige works its magic, Johansson should disappear for a while. She’s succeeded in her bid to become a sex symbol, even if it hasn’t help her movies make money. But she’s overexposed herself in more ways than one this past year. That means no matter how gorgeous she looks, she could soon become too hard on the eyes.