The Curse of the Jade Scorpion

The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) is Woody Allen's comedy mystery, and you can watch it online on iFILM. A star insurance investigator and a stage hypnotist turn 1940s Manhattan into the setting for one slick con.

CW Briggs (Woody Allen) is the firm's sharpest fraud-buster and can't stand the new efficiency expert, Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt), who wants to overhaul his office. At a company night out, a magician named Voltan plants a trigger word in both their heads. From then on, a single phrase down the phone line sends Briggs out to burgle the city's wealthiest homes — then he's handed the case to solve, with no idea he's the thief.

Allen plays it as a loving spoof of film noir: jazz, fedoras, and a steady crossfire of one-liners. Charlize Theron turns up as a slinky heiress, with Dan Aykroyd rounding out the cast. Stream The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001) online on iFILM.