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Film Review: Duplicity proved to be lackluster
© Michelle Bollman
Published in the Lee Clarion, Spring 2009
An online version of this article can be found, here.
Each actress has a character in a movie they fit the mold for best.
Cameron Diaz, for example, always plays the best dumb blonde; for Angelina Jolie, it’s the macho woman, and for Julia Roberts, it’s the careless, fun-loving, take-her-home-to-mom girlfriend. This is probably why Duplicity, Roberts’ newest flick with co-star Clive Owen, didn’t leave many happy afterthoughts as the audience filed out of the theater.
Duplicity follows Clarie Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen), corporate spies working for rival New York City companies who meet and fall in love. Due to the complications of their jobs, the two must schedule vacations in remote parts of the world in order to spend time with each other and stay out of sight.
When Claire and Ray devise a plan to rob the two companies of $40 million, in order to have enough to live happily ever after, they run into a few hurdles.
The film’s mix of action and comedy did not work too well. Between the seriousness of the action portions and actually trying to figure out where the movie was headed, the jokes did not leave the audience laughing; they barely received a giggle.
Though the loose ends that were started at the beginning of the movie were finally tied up at the end, the frustration and confusion had long set in, which in turn made the plot less enjoyable.
The storyline missed vital character building and introduction. The flashbacks failed to provide viewers with enough background information to completely understand and relate to the characters.
Although the end takes a turn no one expects, it wasn’t fulfilling enough to justify the hour and a half of perplexity that came before it.
Clever story line, bad execution. I wish I would have waited to see the movie on the TBS rerun playlist.
