Duplicity

Viewer Rating:Eric Gallagher has rated Duplicity rating: 2 Star

As far as Duplicity goes, the most interesting or exciting thing about it is that it is called Duplicity. There are probably hundreds of things a good writer could do with a title like that, unfortunately casting Julia Roberts and Clive Owen as ex-CIA and MI5 agents trying to pull off a sting is not one of them. The film starts with a chance encounter between the two and leads into a good introduction for an espionage movie, however you soon discover that it is not what it seems at all. This particular scene will be referred to again and again during the movie as the two re-act the encounter in later scenes, and it gets old quickly. There is little action in the movie, again something you may have expected from the name of the movie or the fact that they're both ex-special agents. Again this is not the case, the two are actually involved in a rather dull con that just doesn't suit their background, its too random. There are very few scenes in the movie, mostly it is situated in one typical business building or in an apartment, and with there being less supporting characters, this film gives the feeling it could be preformed on a stage. There are one or two moments of dry humour and a few semi-dramatic scenes that make up for the overall poor quality of the movie, but Julia Roberts has had better movies, and if you want to see a Clive Owen movie anytime soon, The International may be a better choice. If however you are a fan of this genre it would probably be better to wait for the DVD release and to rent it out instead as it just didn't seem to justify the use of a big screen.

Review published on the 10 April 2009 00:11