Duplicity

Greetings again from the darkness. The very imaginative and quite funny opening credit sequence sets the stage for a fun frolic through the world of corporate espionage. The only two problems ... it's not that much fun and there is very little frolicking.

Writer/Director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) just tries to be too clever and cute for his own good. After landing two perfect leads and two of the best character actors of this generation, Gilroy offers up a tedious, bungled mess that is really never that clever and certainly gives the feeling of holding back these four fine actors.

The multi-frame look, non-linear time line, repeated dialogue and smirky exchanges between Clive and Julia are just some of the clichéd tricks used to make this seem more interesting and complicated than it really is.

Clive Owen shows again that he would have made a sterling James Bond (nothing against Daniel Craig, who is excellent). Instead of his usual dark, brooding roles, he seems to thrive when he can show a bit of emotion. Luckily for the audience, we are only subjected to one of Julia Roberts' patented cackles that causes every man to cringe. For her, she is quite reserved, but just can't pull off the smartest person in the room role. Sadly, the great Tom Wilkinson is pretty much wasted in his role as one of the dueling corporate giants. Paul Giamatti, on the other hand, has the best scene in the film as he delivers over-the-top arrogance in his stockholders speech.

Must also mention Tom McCarthy, not so much for his role (he is the guy handcuffed in the meeting room), but just because I have become such a fan of his directorial skills ... The Station Agent and The Visitor.

If you are after a dime store version of Michael Clayton or a mostly non-funny Cary Grant type film, then this is the film for you. To me, it just doesn't deliver the quips, twist or turns that it pretends to.

Set in the high-stakes world of corporate espionage, this is a film built on the interplay between writer/director and viewer. It jumps from the present to flashbacks repeatedly, every time revising the viewer's understanding of present-day action.

There is ambiguity in the intentions of Ray (Clive Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts), rival agents who join forces, it seems, to pull off a big payday. This is a romance between two people who never trust anyone. Is such a thing possible? The film keeps us guessing as each flashback adds another layer of understanding, in effect rewriting the story.

One must pay attention to follow the narrative as it twists, turns, and doubles back on itself, but the payoff is worth it.

One of my favorite things about this film is the music. The film credits James Newton Howard, who has a nearly-endless list of compositional accomplishments. The accompaniment to the opening credits of this film is a good indication of what is to come musically.

Much like "The Thomas Crown Affair", comedy is interwoven with the drama in an enjoyable way. A strong cast, well directed, keeps things just light enough that the drama is not undercut.

Two spies hatch a plan to get rich. This movie is a game pulling the blindfold on everyone, to create a serious tone of grown ups fighting in a sandpit. Hilarious seriousness with great writing and acting to empathise the multi-layered plot. Laughed out loud for most of it, my kind of comedy.

After all the fun, the ending left a sour taste, once taking the blindfold off it was just a sandpit. If you like creative complex comedies this ones for you. Hopefully now you know about the sour ending it won't taste so bad.

Where is the dupe in duplicity?

Ex-intelligence operatives Julia Roberts and Clive Owen decide to go into business for themselves. Moreover, they would not mind being romantically evolved. The only problem is can they trust each other. They take an economic opportunity by infiltrating two rival pharmaceutical companies. Each company uses all sorts of tactics to get one upon each other. Will the ex-agents succeed with any of their goals?

The film relies excessively much on flashbacks within flashbacks to the point that the whole film is just one big flashback. It is very annoying. It goes out of the way to mask needed information from us instill it is over-explained in the flashback.

I found the movie fun to watch. I was occasionally misled. Now if they could have just gotten rid of all the flashbacks.

This movie is like every other movie in the past few years- nothing special. Duplicity's trailer make it seem a lot more fun that what it really is. This should have been an Ocean's movie; it certainly has the talent to be. Clive Owens and Julia Roberts (not really looking very glamorous) are good actors and they are supported by other stellar performers. So why isn't this movie very much fun? Well its the writing. There are a lot of so called twist that can be guessed almost immediately. Only one actually surprises you. Also the dialog is not very witty and it should have been. In fact it repeats itself so much as to be annoying. So in the end what could have been a fun little romp turns boring in the end.