Jose here. As Emma Stone enters the second phase of her reign as the Woodsman’s current muse, comparisons to Scarlett Johansson are important not for the obvious surface reasons (both stunningly beautiful young actresses at the peak of their raspy-voice greatness) but because after making two films with him in consecutive years, she still doesn’t have her signature Woody role. Similarly, Johansson’s streak with Allen, which spanned three non-consecutive films from 2005-2008, was characterized for the “renaissance” quality it brought to his work, more than for containing “essential” Scarlett Johansson performances.
More on Stone and ScarJo after the jump...
Before you say, “well there’s Match Point”, as fine as her work was in the film, her accolades were mostly part of a “welcome back to the big leagues” package for Allen, whose work had been lackluster for the better part of a decade. Also the Golden Globes would’ve nominated her for anything back then. Match Point was celebrated because it reminded audiences and critics that nobody does entertaining existentialism like Allen. The film’s screenplay, basically a reworking of the plot of Crimes and Misdemeanors, proved to be deliciously dark and nihilistic, and Johansson’s work as Nola was nothing other than pitch perfect casting, since no other filmmaker had deigned to cast her as the femme fatale they all suggested she could be.
Similarly, when it comes to Stone, she excels in Allen’s films because they allow her to be larger than life, she’s Carole Lombard and Barbara Stanwyck rolled into one, inspiring lust in one moment and then making your tummy ache from laughing too hard. Allen clearly adores her, no one has shot her as lovingly as Darius Khondji does in Magic in the Moonlight and Irrational Man, but neither film is actually a showcase for her, which made me wonder if Allen uses his muses as purely ancillary inspiration, rather than as the only objects of his adoration. Do you think that being near ScarJo and Stone, helped him write great parts for other actors? If you think about it, ScarJo was the only cast member of Vicky Cristina Barcelona not to get a single nomination for anything (the lack of awards attention is something she has in common with former Woody muse Mia Farrow), while Stone hasn’t been singled out for her work in either film. Moonlight gave Colin Firth and Hamish Linklater great notices, and Irrational has people crazy over how great an Allen actor Parker Posey is. Should Woody quit horsing around and write Emma and Scarlett their own Blue Jasmine’s?
Do you wish Woody's relationship with Scarjo and Stone was more like Fellini's with Masina, Bergman and Ullmann, and Almodóvar with Maura and Pé? Or are you content with what he’s done with ScarJo and Stone?