Duplicity (2009) Movie Review

Based on the true story of that thing that really happened that one time in that place that was in the newspapers a long time ago, Duplicity stars up-and-comer Julia Roberts (in only her second non-porno role since she left the adult industry with the memorable GILFSpray) and Vietnamese action icon Clive Owen (developing a knack for the English language that his fellow Asian Kickateers Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Wesley Snipes never really seemed to have grasped), as ex-secret agents looking to make it big in the private sector.

In a this crowded movie weekend, you can rest assured that while the better-than-you’d-expect Knowing may be Cagier, and that I Love You, Man may be SegelRuddier, no movie opening this weekend has as much star power or comes with as many coupons (75 cents off Hot Pockets!!!) as Duplicity. In many ways it’s like last week’s release of Last House on the Left, except it’s gorier, not sucky (technical term, not to be used lightly), and you haven’t watched the entire movie in the space of a trailer. Depending on your mood, if you see any of the new movies this weekend, you can’t lose because they’re all good in their own way. But since I can’t review all 3 movies at once, I’ll just do Duplicity...

...Or can I?

In writer/director Tony “Anthony Garlic” Gilroy’s follow-up to Michael Clayton (a genre piece that actually improves with subsequent viewings) Julia Roberts plays Claire Stenwick, a CIA agent who looks like a CIA agent would if she were played by Julia Roberts.

Claire’s in Dubai (which I think is right next to Ontario or Bakersfield) where she has a mysterious Meet Cute with a Brit in a Leg Brace (former Blaxploitation Star Clive Owen, in his second Studio-financed film since he left Blaxploitation with the 1975 classic Nigga, I’mma Fuck U Up, or as it’s called in Hong Kong: Unfortunate Negro I Will Pummel You within an Inch of your Ill-fated Life and then take Your Whoremistress of a Woman and make her work for me Performing Fellatio and various other sexual acts for Complete Strangers while being Paid for it but she will not receive a Dime for I Will Be her Pimp and take all her Earnings and Maybe if I’m feeling Generous give her a Meager Allowance to Buy shoes and earrings but will be completely Disproportionate to the net of what she makes for me selling her wares- probably not even minimum wage if you amortize it over a traditional pay period- to the dregs of the Earth and then she will eventually die of some Sexually transmitted Disease with four or more Syllables and then I will be sad because I realized that I loved her and she was my Number One Bitch- You see, Blaxploitation titles really don’t translate well overseas) named Ray Koval.

The scene ends up pretty much where you think it’s going to end up: with an off-angle shot of clothes on the floor and bodies writhing around in bed. It so happens that post-copulation, Ray is drugged out and Claire is ripping him off. The start of a beautiful friendship

Fast forward a couple of years...

Two Skin and Health Care companies (at least that’s what I think they are) are at corporate war. One’s led by Howard Tully (Tom “Night of the White Pants” Wilkinson) and the other’s led by Dick “Windy roads and Spicy food make me” Garsick (Paul “Works out at the” Giamatti). They loathe each other with the passion that only 2 middle-aged rich-but-probably-impotent men can have. They engage in espionage on the regular, and Tully’s company is clearly on top, except-

-except that Tully (I can’t remember the companies’ names) announces that soon he’ll have a product that’ll change the marketplace forever (Hint: Plastics). They will all be rich and all other rival companies will be crushed.

Dick is dismayed by that notion. He’s also dismayed that Paul Giamatti wasn’t nominated for Best Actor for Sideways. Fortunately, he’s hired Ray as one of his Spy Guys and Ray is in bed (literally, and by literally they don’t just share bunks together) with Claire, who’s ensconced herself at the other company. Get it? They’re playing both sides in the huge 4-figure game to get the Super-secret product and it’s only through swift execution and even slicker editing that Claire and Ray can come out with their shirts and pants intact.

But can these 2 ex-professional liars trust each other enough to guffaw all the way to the bank?

Is it possible that Julia Roberts is actually 40 with three kids?

And what about these feelings of “love” that they seem to have for one another as the operation (or “game” as it’s called in the movie- such arcane and catchy terms allow you the viewer a sneak peek into a world most of us will never know) progresses?

And most importantly, can they trust each other enough to guffaw all the way to the bank?

The answer is Yes. Or No. Maybe even both.

What works about Duplicity-

1) The chemistry that Roberts and Owen had in Closer still remains. Only difference: the characters they play in this movie aren’t unlikable assheads like they were in Closer.

2) A hilarious confession scene with Carrie Preston as a duped travel officer (“It was WORTH it”). Even funnier? Julia Roberts’ reaction.

3) A sequence involving a search for a copier provides the movie with its only true moments of suspense.

4) The opening credit slapfight (hinted in the trailer) results in the longest and most sustained laughter in the movie. Make of that what you will.

5) The flash forward/flash back structure of Tony Gilroy’s screenplay flows well enough and never feels like a device. You know exactly as much as you need to know and are never confused...unless you’re supposed to be.

6) May be safer to be in a movie theater than in any place selling DVD’s as Twilight has invaded video stores everywhere and you might want to get you and your children the fuck away from the stampede. In related news, carrot, tampon, cucumber, chocolate, and A-battery sales have also gone through the roof.

What doesn’t work-

1) You’ve seen movies like this before and you’re already primed to know that NOTHING is ever what it seems, that lingering close-ups on seemingly innocuous items will be important 5 to 20 minutes later, that you’ll see scenes played out in different angles and with different meaning attached to them, and if the movie doesn’t end right when a traditional movie should...you know there’s another not-so-mind-boggling twist on the way. BTW- Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and George Clooney are not in this movie, though it seems like they should be. Neither is Bernie Mac, because he’s dead.

Coming into it you’re TRYING to outthink the movie, and if you’re versed enough in the game, the ending, while different, isn’t one that hasn’t been telegraphed (points for trying, though) and is ultimately unsatisfying. No, it isn’t what you’re thinking, and yes, it’s EXACTLY what you’re thinking. If this were a Christopher Nolan movie there’s no way you’d see what’s going to happen.

2) Though the movie isn’t about their characters, you do wish there were more scenes with Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson. Notice you pay a LOT more attention when they’re onscreen than when Roberts and Owen are. Not a knock on the Pretty Movie Stars, but you pretty much know what you’re going to get from them while Wilkinson and Giamatti manage to surprise and enliven every scene they’re in.

3) Clive Owen’s southern accent. He’s British. His Southern SOUNDS British. Is this payback for American actors doing crappy English accents?

4) You’ll always be left wondering how that Pizza Subplot will have turned out. And you’ll actually want to try some of those pizzas. I know I do

Overall. Duplicity is a breezy piece of mindless amusement that never bores, but leaves you about as filled as that can of Redi-Whip you save in the back of the fridge for “date night”. Cements Tony Gilroy as a filmmaker worth watching if you want intelligent entertainment but don’t want to be weighed down by “issues”. There are worse ways you can spend your movie dollar and 2 hours of your time.