Review: Duplicity
by John NolteWith a jazzy score, twisty-turny plot, split-screens and scads of romantic banter between two attractive, well-tailored leads who never quite know whether or not one is hustling the other, “Duplicity” wants very much to catch the vibe of those romantic capers of the 60s; films like “Charade” (1963), “How to Steal a Million” (1966) and “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968) where the MacGuffin is merely an excuse to wrap an energetic love story around a couple of beautiful, bankable movie stars. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy has certainly assembled all the elements, but lacking are any serious sparks between the leads and a compelling, coherent plot.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are Ray and Clair, she’s former CIA, he once worked for MI-6. Five years ago, while still protecting their respective countries, they had what you might call an “encounter” that went better for her than for him. Five years later they bump into each other, only now their spy skills are being put to good use at rival Manhattan conglomerates just as one is about to launch an earth-shattering product and the other is prepared to do anything to steal it.
In this genre, the plot’s nowhere as near as important as our wanting the two leads to find a way to be together. This emotional undercurrent must run through all the double and triple crosses, various played angles and meticulously planned shenanigans. To successfully pull this off you need stars who share certain chemistry and a script that hits the right character notes in creating two people who need each other, which is where “Duplicity” is most lacking.
Like the film’s poster, sterility overwhelms everything. From the lazy trope of portraying corporate America as bland and cold to the overuse of wide shots in big, empty rooms, the warmth a successful romance requires to be enveloped in is drained even before it has a chance to build. The actors don’t help, either. Stuck with a script that’s entirely too self-conscious in its desire to create banter, neither of them gives off a hint of longing or heat beneath the flurry of “clever” words. This isn’t acting, it’s attitude.
The caper has only two truly engaging scenes, the rest is confusing as we jump back and forth in time; a year here, a few months there. And much too much time is eaten up filling in a back-story between Ray and Clair that would’ve been much more satisfying had it been explained with a line or two of dialogue and our own imagination.
The plot also suffers from M. Night Shyamalan Syndrome, whereas the final twist is not earned, only there for the sake of having a final twist and gives off the impression that the film was written backwards to arrive at this moment.
“Duplicity” is paced well and does have a certain energy; it just lacks heart and substance. Wait for DVD, but in the meantime, if the promise of “Duplicity” has made you hungry for this kind of thing, take another look at John McTiernan’s “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), an underrated, sexy, smart remake that surpasses the original with two stars (Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan) that throw off enough heat for five films.
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76 Comments
Please don't compare THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968) to this movie. Not only does DUPLICITY lack chemistry, it lacks believable dialogue. And was it just me or does Julia Roberts look annoyed to even be in the movie?
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
To me, Roberts hasn't had any chemistry with anyone in a long time. She comes across as cold, unhappy, and just going through the motions these days. The first time I really felt this was in Ocean's Eleven — where everytime I saw her characters, she seemed to add a depressing moment to an otherwise lighthearted story.
It would probably have helped if Julia Roberts could, you know, act.
On twists, by the way, I'm sick of twists that are tacked onto the end of the story just to spruce up a poor plot. A good twist, which is organic to the story, can make a great film super. But a bad twist only highlights how poorly the movie was written. My three favorite twists are:
1. "Usual Suspects" — After this one, you suddenly realize that you no longer know if anything you just watched is true. Very daring for a writer to do that to their own story.
2. "Sixth Sense" — The evidence for it was there all along and it added meaning to the relationship between Bruce and the boy. Now you understand the boy's reluctance to talk to Burce and you see how brave the boy really is. Not to mention how well they hid the twist in the early scenes. This also converts a horror movie into a very touching movie about friendship for me.
3. "Fight Club" — Strange twist that gave a whole new meaning to many parts of the film — like the argument between Norton and Helena Carter (who seemed really nasty before you knew the twist, but was much more sympathetic afterwards).
Everybody wants to be Rod Serling or Richard Matheson these days. It doesn't always work.
To paraphrase a line from My Favorite Year, "She's not an actress! She's a movie star!"
Ahh, cold & unhappy. Julia Roberts is still playing the only character she knows…herself. Another of the many attractive, but untalented, among the anointed. This describes most modern day actors. I have two axioms about movies…
#1 The movie is made or broken by the supporting actors. They allow or disallow the stars to shine. for instance, Charles Durning is always a supporting actor, never the star. But his movies tend to shine. The same goes for Gary Oldman, Ned Beatty, Robert Duvall and others.
#2 The better looking the actor, the less likely they are talented. Most actors are chosen for their looks, not their ability to potray characters believably. This has been the case ever since directors, not producers, have been choosing the actors.
There are exceptions, but these axioms fit more than 95% of the time!!!
Andrew, I thought the same thing with Ocean's Eleven, although that's another two hours of my life I'll never get back.
I agree whole-heartedly, especially on your point about supporting actors. You can hide a lot of poor writing and/or ineffective stars, if the film is well filmed and the supporting characters create a believable world for the stars to move through. I've often gone back and looked at the IMDB to see who some character actor was and found myself shocked that they're in all my favorite movies!
I was never a fan of hers. Never found her that attractive and she always played the same kind of character. She's like a female Tom Cruise (though Cruise can act when he wants to). I personally find myself less and less interested in so called stars. The stars of the past were actors, for the most part. So I had no problem with them. The stars of today are nothing but personalities and most of them aren't that personable or interesting to watch. Only a handful, like Will Smith, can be like the stars of old and disappear in a role.
Clive Owen is also becoming a disappointment. At 47, he should be at a point in his career where character depth is a part of the package through just his presence, but it's not. Not sure if its the direction or his project choices but the depth has been lacking. What's the word…? Gravitas?
I was disappointed when Daniel Craig won the part of Bond owver Owen, but I've never been more wrong.
I have no intention of viewing this. I haven't enjoyed Roberts in a very long time Logic has it pegged: she can only play herself. I've recently decided that I enjoy unknown or new actors/actresses more in a movie (with the rare exception of the timeless talents of those such as Liam Neeson) because they have't yet been varnished into the Hollywood, one-size-fits-all clone.
I actually liked the movie Closer. It depicted Julia as a b!tc#. I know, I know, some typecasting there, but she played one so believably, it seemed made for her. I liked Clive's role in that film, also. Of course, He is hot, so he can play whatever role he wants, IMO. Not really sure I can make my self sit through this one, unless I wait until it comes out on DVD, and mute Julia's parts.
You never see Julia's characters when she plays them – you only see Julia. That's not acting – that's just a woman standing in front of a camera repeating lines.
And she's lazy. I think of how the really great actors would go back to their rooms at night with the script and think of some way to make it better. (Cagney in 'White Heat' with his suggestions about the chair and the bed – Spencer Tracy practicing cracking walnuts for nearly 8 hours simply to get the cadence for saying a single line; Dietrich taking an entire week to choose an outfit for a scene which lasted less than 30 seconds on film, etc.) I can't for the life of me envision Julia doing this type of hard work. And it's not just laziness. It's also lack of intelligence – I honestly don't think she has the smarts to comprehend a script problem or come up with a solution to make it better, etc. And even if she could, I doubt she has the artistic integrity to do something about it.
Were they able to work in a shot at the the GOP or the U.S. Military? Julia is so adamant about her "hate" of conservatives, it would seem fitting.
Thanks John for another great review. I no longer see a film until I check out Nolter's reivew to find out whether I'm going to be entertained, sucker punched or propagandized. "Duplicity" looked interesting in the trailers, but once I read that the spies worked for "corporate America", I smelled a rat. I have nothing whatsoever to do with "corporate America" professionally, but I'm fed up with the businesses who provide the jobs that power America being depicted by Hollywood as evil bastards. This is straight out of Marxist texts and I'm fed up with it. I'll pass on "Duplicity" just as I've passed on most movies this year.
Besides, Julia Robers annoys the sheist out of me.
Yesterday, JohnN, you had high praise for “Stagecoach.”
Among the many pieces that make up that great whole is the way Claire Trevor and John Wayne look at each other. In scene after scene their characters are intensely interested in each other and involved in each other. There are times the viewer feels like he’s intruding on a married couple’s privacy, even though they are on opposite sides of a bouncing vehicle.
Without that to-the-edge acting, the screen relationship fails.
Of course, the cameraman has to catch it and the director has to coach it if he can’t get it from the actors.
I'm with you there on Owen. Best thing he did was the BMW films, everything since has been somewhat disappointing (with the possible exception of Children of Men … I had extremely low expectations of that film based on a lot of the buzz and it ended up being much better than I expected).
Thing is he has the screen presence and acting skills to do better, he just seems to lack the single most important skill an actor needs; the ability to pick the right script.
Thomas Crown Affair? Really? I thought Rene Russo (and the lines given her) did everything possible to kill the movie, but Leary and Brosnan were too good to let it completely fail. It was okay, but not that great. (And of course there are the obvious problems with taking a hundred year old painting and FOLDING IT IN HALF.)
For too long I had been thinking… if Clive Owen could just land a meatier role he would really be seen for what I think he is (not just a pretty face, but a guy who can bring on some depth). But here you may have outed me to myself with your comment on Craig getting Bond over Owen.
1999's TCA had some other logic problems too: Why wouldn't they have rewound the tape immediately to discover who left the briefcase heater under the bench (the third leg)?
Huge logic gap—
But I thought Rene Russo was superb in the film, the chemistry between them intense, and you never knew until that wonderful ending whether or not she was playing him, he was playing her, they were playing each other, or really falling in love.
I think it's one of the most under-rated films of the last 10 years. Certainly, one of my favorites because at the end of the movie when she's sitting alone on that plane I really, really feel for her. Wonderful, romantic, adult film made with intelligence, and, yes, Denis Leary is SUPERB in that supporting role. Wonderfully nuanced and well-written.
As far as the original TCA, as much as I love McQueen, I could barely get thru it.
McTiernan's TCA is one of my favorite 90s films. At the time I said, "Wow! a movie for gown-ups!" Like they had when I was a kid, and I wasn't allowed to watch 'em, because they were…movies for grown-ups.
I like both stars, but when the jokes in the trailer don't crack you up, it's a red flag.
How come every time I see Julia Roberts I think of the crack Joan Rivers made many years ago about Mick Jagger. "Lips, mouth. That guy could give Ohio a hickey."
How come every time I see Julia Roberts I think of the crack Joan Rivers made many years ago about Mick Jagger? "Lips, mouth. That guy could give Ohio a hickey."
The only modern actors that I can think of that put in the work to the degree of an old school star are Gerard Butler (who remade himself for 300), Christian Bale (who abuses his body/and sometimes others with white hot intensity), Liam Neeson (they haven't even written the SCRIPT for the Abe Lincoln movie and he has already researched the 16th presidents papers and letters). . .there are probably others, but these three stick out as true workhorses.
*MissQuinn*
Wow, how refreshing to see uncommon comments with which I agree:
appreciating the under-rated 1999 TCA (with a great recording, by Sting, of the theme song),
having wished Clive Owen would be the new James Bond,
but then having much appreciation for Daniel Craig in the role,
Julia Roberts being the dismal part of Ocean's Eleven
(it's a joke to see praise for her "beauty", but she was badly lit in OE, and the rushed tempo of her dialogue w/Clooney in their first scene was a directoral mistake) … and so on…
Hey Mr. Nolte, got any inside Hollywood info on the prospects of the sequel to TCA getting made?
I heard talk of a sequel that would replace Russo with Angelina Jolie, which of course would be an absolute crime. No offense against Jolie, but Russo was as important to the success of that film as anything and it's one of the few times I've cared enough about a casting decision enough that it actually made me angry.
The beauty of TCA was that it was a sexy, mature romance between two very fortyish adults. Brosnan mixed up with a woman 20 years his junior is so freakin' same ole same ole — I'm getting angry again just thinking about it. And what a slap in the face to Russo.
Clive Owen is also becoming a disappointment. At 47, he should be at a point in his career where character depth is a part of the package through just his presence, but it's not. Not sure if its the direction or his project choices but the depth has been lacking, what's the word…? Gravitas?
I was disappointed when Daniel Craig won the part of Bond over Owen … I've never been more wrong.
EEEYYYEEEUUUWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!
You're right, Some things are just morally wrong. And this is morally wrong.
Plus, a sequel to TCA = not necessary. I think it was lightning in a bottle, and the epilogue is best left unfilmed.
And Movie Lovah: I forgot about Sting's cover — you're right — it was wonderful!
Hey John, there's a fun new topic to which we can all contribute faves:
Hollywood films with such a mismatched 'older man with a younger woman' couple
that you shudder & cringe.
The silliest 'there goes dignity' (or was it 'there goes self-respect'?) moment in Six Days and Seven Nights was this: Ford & Heche, alone on a deserted beach, she asks his age, and he WHISPERS it into her ear, so the AUDIENCE won't find out!
Sheesh!
Back to the possible sequel to the 1999 TCA, good point Wankette, but if they DO make it,
and if the story requires a different actress,
I nominate the always screen-worthy Lena Olin. She's roughly Brosnan's age, right?
I'm NOT a fan of either Roberts or Owen.
I AM a fan of Mr. Nolte's reviews. Thanks for taking this one for the team, so I won't bother.
TCA was a great movie. I wish Hollywood would feature more mature, sexy leads like Brosnan and Russo. They had more heat on camera than virtually anyone else I can think of. Jolie and Pitt look like novices compared to these two.
TCA is a great movie! Let me count the ways… Brosnan for actually looking the part of an M&A mogul and having some real Corporate Financier lines. John Mctiernan for making an exciting movie without any real violence, AND for portraying business men in a positive light (the sheer brio of the “you don’t have any regrets on how you’ve played this do you Crown?” scene). The genius of casting an actress with enough grit to act off Brosnan’s clever and selfish rogue male. But above all, the smart, snappy dialogue, (“You always get your man? Think you’ll get me?”) the passion and the pace. Sheer genius.
On my website I recently wrote four articles on the 30 best Caper movies of all time. I listed all thirty and for me, the best of them all is TCA. You can see the last article (top ten movies) here http://www.whatmakesaman.net/wordpress/2008/02/24...
Kudos to Big Hollywood for talking up this hugely underrated movie. TCA is a great achievement and Brosnan is scheduled to make the follow-up, TCA2, in the fall of 2009. Looking forward to it.
Why do I have NO will to see this? Why? Why? Can anyone explain it to me? Sighhhhhh…..this looks so silly, jumbled and disorganized. Even Clive Owen who can you know act cannot save this garbage. He couldn't save that ode to Marxism, King Arthur either but thats another story.
I got sick of Julia Roberts about 5 years after she showed up. Her last role I liked? Notting Hill. Thats its.
Roberts must ben an acquired taste. I don't get it.
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Urban B- You are so right! That part drives me crazy! I love this movie otherwise. Absolutely makes my top ten favorites, but the folding of the painting is a serious gaffe. I can't look when it comes on the screen! Thanks for making the point!
TTCA had verve and a lot of insite for those who have not seen and loved this film. This Duplicty is sort of hard to take by comparision. Please, in this great new Depression we are on the verge of. Stop wating money.
I heard long ago about the John Wayne school of acting, which is just being yourself. Comparing John and Julia, you can really see the relative strength of the "original material."
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