Un jeune couple a la chance d'emménager dans un magnifique duplex dans le quartier parfait de New York. Tout ce qu'ils ont à faire est de faire tomber le locataire actuel, une jolie petite v... Tout lireUn jeune couple a la chance d'emménager dans un magnifique duplex dans le quartier parfait de New York. Tout ce qu'ils ont à faire est de faire tomber le locataire actuel, une jolie petite vieille dame.Un jeune couple a la chance d'emménager dans un magnifique duplex dans le quartier parfait de New York. Tout ce qu'ils ont à faire est de faire tomber le locataire actuel, une jolie petite vieille dame.
- Prix
- 2 nominations
- Ginger
- (as Cheryl Klein)
- Bartender
- (as Jackie Titone)
- Mr. Dzerzhinsky
- (as Eugene Lazarev)
- Phil
- (as Phillip Perlman)
Histoire
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesOne of the first major productions to film in New York City after 9/11.
- GaffesThe parrot Little Dickie is able to fly around the Duplex, but in close-up shots it is apparent that the bird's wings are clipped.
- Citations
Mrs. Connelly: I couldn't help noticing that Alex left the house this morning while you stayed home.
Nancy Kendricks: I was downsized from my job.
Mrs. Connelly: Oh, I'm sorry, but I'm sure it's for the best. Let Mr. Rose get out there and bring home the bacon. I always thought it was strange your husband staying home while you were out there providing.
Nancy Kendricks: Well, he's a writer.
Mrs. Connelly: Writer? The man naps more than a newborn pup. What's he writing about? Sheep?
- Générique farfeluSpecial Thanks: Remus Yazoo
- ConnexionsFeatured in Duplex: Behind the Scenes Special (2004)
- Bandes originalesAllegro - L'Estro Armonico Op.3: Concerto No. 2 in G Minor
Performed by The Academy of Ancient Music
Courtesy of Decca Music Group Limited
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
Almost.
It's not evil but it isn't exactly sweet. Its premise sounds like the former -- it's about two landlords who try to kill their upstairs tenant, who is unable to be forced from the apartment due to contractual obligations. For Alex and Nancy (Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore), this is at first no problem whatsoever. They purchase a nice New York duplex and have no hesitations about loaning out the floor upstairs. Quoting the title of a film starring DeVito (the director), "What's the worst that could happen?"
Well, a lot.
At first, as is always the case, everything seems nice and dandy. They move in, buy some furniture, set up their new lives, and manage to relax a bit. But soon the "sweet old lady" their real estate agent told them about turns out to be the spawn of Satan. She is an Irish woman who is "somewhere between ninety-five and a hundred-and-five," lives by herself upstairs, plays her television very loud all night long, boasts about her passed husband and how great a sea fisherman he was in his day, calls Alex Alan and refuses to admit she's made a mistake, etc., etc. She calls Alex upstairs every day and has him run extravagant errands for her. Alex is a struggling writer with a deadline before his second book is due, so he tries to tell the sweet old woman that he can't help her out all the time. "But there's just this one thing," she says, and fits on an angelic smile in order to make him feel sorry for her.
But soon she's claiming that her landlords are trying to rape and murder her and the cops side with the woman. Left with nowhere to go, Alex and Nancy eventually succumb to their anger and decide they must put the hag out of her misery and take over the upstairs floor. Their excuse is that a baby is on the way, and they'll need the room, but by this time we sympathize with both of them and want to see this woman murdered anyway. Trust me, after you watch this movie, you'll be feeling the same way, too.
And I suppose that's part of the success of "Duplex" -- like other DeVito movies, it takes a seemingly appalling plot (see "Throw Momma From the Train") and, by advancing and developing its characters, and drawing us into their conflicts, has us relate to them. We want the hag dead, too.
Danny DeVito's directorial debut, "Throw Momma from the Train," (1987) was a simple dark comedy that borrowed its premise from Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train." Since then, DeVito has delivered a fair share of hits ("The War of the Roses") and misses ("Death to Smoochy"). One thing's for sure, though: all of his films have a distinct style of humor, and exploitation of the weakness of humanity, that separates them from the rest of the genre.
DeVito is able to make the audience relate with his characters and have them fantasize about doing similar things. "I'm so evil," Barrymore complains halfway through the movie. "Well, I have my fantasies, too," Stiller tells her, which is then followed by images of him killing the old woman upstairs and smiling about it. He tells her his ideas. She grins. "You're evil, too!"
From a text standpoint, this indeed seems very evil, and appears as if it would be in a Stone ("Natural Born Killers") or Tarantino-written ("True Romance") movie. But when you're watching "Duplex," it all comes across as a joke, and it doesn't seem very cruel at all, and DeVito's ability to transform his audience into fantasizing sickos is sort of mildly genius if you stop and think about it. I'd never kill an old woman but "Duplex" is able to make us sympathize with its characters and agree with their decision. Now that's the sign of a good director if you ask me.
4/5 stars.
- John Ulmer
- MovieAddict2016
- 19 mars 2004
Meilleurs choix
- How long is Duplex?Propulsé par Alexa
Détails
Box-office
- Budget
- 40 000 000 $ US (estimation)
- Brut – États-Unis et Canada
- 9 692 135 $ US
- Fin de semaine d'ouverture – États-Unis et Canada
- 4 600 000 $ US
- 28 sept. 2003
- Brut – à l'échelle mondiale
- 19 322 135 $ US
- Durée1 heure 29 minutes
- Couleur
- Mixage
- Rapport de forme
- 1.85 : 1