In addition to fellow-commentator Petershelleyau on here, who came up with an amusing summary line, I'd like to point out that it's not exactly people's brains that get replaced in this movie, but their minds rather. DUPLICATES is a very watchable, but nonetheless pretty forgettable early 90's thriller with a sci-fi touch. There's not much action or thrills in this one, but the dramatic story-line hums along at a decent pace. Given the premise of DUPLICATES, it sounds like an intriguing film, but the mystery that should be present throughout a movie like this, isn't really there. You just know what's going on very early in the movie already, and the viewer is always one step ahead of the main characters. The movie does have that typical 'made-for-TV' look and feel, but it's well-made altogether. The leading couple, played by Gregory Harrison and Kim Greist, give fair enough performances in their rolls as Bob and Marion Boxletter, the married couple that gets erased. Good thing about DUPLICATES is that it wastes no time getting the story going. Marion seems to recognize her brother (in the first scene - not counting the opening teaser-scene, featuring a villainous Lane Smith), who had been lost and presumed dead for over a year (together with their 10 year old son). Her brother doesn't recognize her and claims he's someone else. They go on a investigating spree, and soon it's them who find their minds replaced by the ones of two previously deceased strangers.
Naturally, this makes up for a mildly entertaining 90 minutes, but I just would have loved a little more excitement and a more complicated plot (with a tagline like "They steal your family. They steal your mind. They steal you!", one might even falsely assume it's some kind of of predecessor to Schwarzenegger's ERASER or something). It's just all a bit uneventful and too predictable. The 'loss of identity' aspect I liked, but the whole 'love is in the heart and not in the mind'-angle, I could have done without. For a movie that shows similarities to films like THE STEPFORD WIVES and the more recent Koontz' adaptation BLACK RIVER (both superior films in my book), the plot of DUPLICATES could have used a bit more larger scaled conspiracy aspects to make it a bit more complex. But now, it's just about the couple in search for their identity and the truth to the matter. A satisfying, but predictable conclusion wraps it up nicely and makes this movie not much more than a passable time-waster when it comes on TV. It was fun seeing Lane Smith again (known for his memorable role as Nathan Bates in "V" - the series). And given his role in DUPLICATES (as Mr. Fryman, the ill-natured head of the whole science-project) he really feels to me like the 80's equivalent of William B. Davis (who's known for portraying Cigarette Smoking Man in "THE X-FILES"). I've always looked at him like that, for some reason.
Considering the fact that writer/director Sandor Stern was also responsible for the lame THE EVIL ESCAPES-entry in the AMITYVILLE series, DUPLICATES could have been a lot worse. All in all, not bad, but there's more entertaining movies about messing with people's minds out there. I personally had more fun with things like MINDFIELD (1989, starring Michael Ironside) and the total mess that was MINDSTORM (2001, starring both Michael Ironside and William B. Davis). Inferior movies, maybe, but still a bit more fun to watch.
