Duplicity 2009
I was looking forward to this corporate espionage movie with a romantic twist between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. But here’s the problem: corporate espionage is boring. They are kind of having fun with the idea, but one of the examples of corporate espionage here is one company stealing the idea for a frozen double crust pizza from another company. It’s just hard to get excited about that.
It may still be possible to do a good corporate espionage movie, but a successful example like Michael Clayton was really more about a coverup that put the public in danger than it was Brand X vs. Brand Y. The whole idea of stealing a secret formula when you know good and well that secret formulas can be patented just loses its luster.
The romantic tension between Clive Owen and Julia Roberts is decent, but they intentionally go through the same cycle of lines each time they meet, which makes it seem like the relationship is skipping back like a scratched record. The thing they are trying to set up is that neither person can really trust the other because their jobs don’t let them. But the focus on the two of them takes away from the elements of the typical caper film. Think about it: Ocean’s Eleven focused on 11 different people. That’s part of what makes it work: having a crew of people with different talents. That crew is here, but not fleshed out.
Still, this is reasonably entertaining, not really a failure. Owen is very good at being exasperated and confused. Roberts is very good at being confident and manipulative, and has one great scene where she expresses volumes without saying a word. You don’t really know how this will end up (and may not care, unfortunately) until the very end. B-.
Written: 05 Apr 2009