Duplicity (2009)

A pair of corporate spies who share a steamy past hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their respective bosses.

Director:

Tony Gilroy

Writer:

Tony Gilroy

Stars:

Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	Ray Koval
Julia Roberts	...	Claire Stenwick
Tom Wilkinson	...	Howard Tully
Paul Giamatti	...	Richard Garsik
Dan Daily	...	Garsik's Aide
Lisa Roberts Gillan	...	Tully's Assistant (as Lisa Roberts Gillan)
David Shumbris	...	Turtleneck
Rick Worthy	...	Dale Raimes
Oleg Shtefanko	...	Boris Fetyov (as Oleg Stefan)
Denis O'Hare	...	Duke Monahan
Kathleen Chalfant	...	Pam Frailes
Khan Baykal	...	Dinesh Patel
Thomas McCarthy	...	Jeff Bauer (as Tom McCarthy)
Wayne Duvall	...	Ned Guston
Fabrizio Brienza	...	Hotel Manager

Storyline

Ray works for MI6, Claire for the CIA. She burns him in Dubai. Jump ahead five years: he sees her in Grand Central and confronts her. Both now work in industrial security for corporate giants whose CEOs hate each other. Flashbacks fill us in: is it coincidence that he sees her in Grand Central? In about a week, one of the firms is going to announce a revolutionary product. Under the guise of helping that corporation's rival, can Ray and Claire work their own theft and find an independent buyer? To work together, using the corporate rivalry to their advantage, they would have to trust one another - difficult, if not impossible. Or, is one playing the other?

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Plot Keywords:

product | con | spy | dubai | flashback | 

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Taglines:

Outwit. Outspy. Outsmart. Outplay. Then get out.

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Genres:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [es] Official site [fr]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Spanish Russian German

Release Date:

20 March 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Duplicidad

Filming Locations:

Atlantis Casino, Paradise Island, Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£796,244 (UK) (20 March 2009)

Gross:

$40,559,930 (USA) (22 May 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Laura Bickford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Claire Stenwick is named for classic-era movie actress Barbara Stanwyck.

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Goofs

When Ray catches up Claire in Rome, her hair length changes: when Ray followed her, it was on a short ponytail/bun but ends up to be on her shoulder when they face.

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Quotes

Ray Koval: You smell great.
Claire Stenwick: Oh please, I smell like a rental car.

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Connections

Featured in The Rotten Tomatoes Show: Inglourious Basterds/Post Grad/World's Greatest Dad (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Soleares"
Written by Joaquín Turina
Performed by Norbert Kraft
Courtesy of Naxos
By Arrangement with Source/Q

User Reviews

a quick review of Duplicity

I don't watch many crime thrillers, because they usually turn out to be not remotely believable or personal, but Duplicity was a pleasant departure from the stereotype. It was really more of a romantic comedy (-ish dramedy, even) within the structure of a crime thriller. The two lead characters were actually pretty believable, aside from their supernatural cockiness that you kind of have to expect from spies in a spy movie (although I was sad that we got so little background or history on either character). Their troubles definitely weren't common, but they were easy to sympathize with, somehow. On top of that, it was delightful and kind of thrilling to see how their relationship was built. (The movie put together their history piece by piece, rather than giving it to us chronologically, which I generally think is a more fun way of witnessing a story.) The other big part of what made this movie so fun was that the objects of our spies' investigation was a couple of skincare corporations! Finally, we get to see tactical drama surrounding something other than a casino, a bank, or a government. Something like a cosmetics company is mundane enough that it becomes fun to play with in the context of large-scale crime drama. Even our favorite CEO's nerdy remarks ("Well, it's a common misconception that "lotion" and "cream" are the same thing") are kind of endearing and bring you back to the fact that this could be an actual corporation run by actual business nerds. So yes, safe to say that this movie was worth watching, and had me walking out of the theater wishing I was a spy. Go watch it.