Duplicity: Corporate Espionage Gone Confusing

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replying the story in its archived form does not constitute a re-publiccation of the story.

You know those movies that you can pick up at any point in the film without feeling like you've missed something essential?...Duplicity isn't one of those movies. A simple bathroom break will throw you out of the loop on this one, so hold it...c'mon, it's only a two hour and five minute movie. Director Tony Gilroy's latest flick follows a pair of corporate spies as their paths intertwine, creating a relationship that's sometimes business, sometimes pleasure, and always perplexing. Though Michael Clayton keeps Gilroy in our good graces, Duplicity knocks him a few notches down the totem pole as he delivers a chaotic mess of a film whose main story gets lost amid frivolous details.

Clive Owen and Julia Roberts turn in performances as Ray Koval and Claire Stenwick, a pair of former government agents working the corporate beat, handling reconnoissance in the war between Burkett Randle and Equikrom, a pair of international corporations with a history of beating each other to the punch with product releases. When the industry buzz surrounding a groundbreaking innovation intensifies, Ray and Claire get the call to secure the product formula for their respective companies, ensuring a massive payout for the winner. Confused? Just imagine Coke trying to beat Pepsi in the race to release a mango-flavored cola. By the way, why hasn't that happened yet? Throw in a growing attraction between the two spies that jeopardizes their missions, and we're left with a romantic spy-thriller, sort of Ocean's Eleven meets (insert Bonds movie here)...but not as good.

At least this time it's not the acting that's subpar. We haven't seen anything major from Julia Roberts since Charlie Wilson's War, and she delivers here, nailing the "Yea I'm sexy, but don't mess with me." role we saw in Erin Brockovich. Keep your eye on this lady, I think she may have a future in the biz. Clive Owen is Clive Owen, a guy sneaky enough to charm a lady into bed and leave with her purse. Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti lend supporting roles as the heads of the warring companies. Wilkinsosn does the job, but most of his stuff hit the cutting room floor to make time for Giamatti's character...smart move. Finding a flaw in a Paul Giamatti role is like searching for meaning in a Jessica Simpson song, good luck. So the acting's good, the star power's there, the director's a veteran, why isn't the film a memorable one? It's confusing as hell, that's why. As a rule, I'm not big on films that don't make sense until the final few minutes when all the stars align in a climax that's supposed to leave the audience breathless. Though a few tend to work, notably The Sixth Sense, usually we're left pondering where the last two hours went. That's the case with Duplicity. You'll spend one hour and forty five minutes asking if you missed something or wondering if that last thing you saw matters. It seems as if the director's saying "I know you're confused right now, but hang in there, it'll all be worth it at the end." Though the finale does bring most of the details together, the payoff just isn't big enough. Duplicity gets a C, click the Video tab for the trailer.

This article also has 1 video attached to it.