'Duplicity' review

A disappointing dabble in double-dealing

By Geoff Berkshire

Posted March 19, 2009

Metromix

MI5 agent Ray Koval (Clive Owen) and CIA operative Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) shared a night of passion in 2003 before she double crossed him the next morning. Five years later they cross paths again when they're both working for corporate CEO Richard Garsik (Paul Giamatti), stealing business secrets from Garsik's rival Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson). But it turns out Ray and Claire have their own plan to screw over both companies so they can make off with millions, and each other.

The buzz: Writer-director Tony Gilroy's follow-up to his critically acclaimed Oscar nominated debut "Michael Clayton" also marks Roberts' first leading role on screen since 2004's "Closer" (which happened to co-star Owen in a role that landed him an Oscar nomination). Add in reliable character actors Giamatti and Wilkinson and you seem to have a can't miss proposition for discriminating adult audiences.

The verdict: Well, at least Gilroy's not the first director to experience the dreaded sophomore slump. After excelling at the corporate thriller he's in over his head when it comes to a romantic caper, proving only that not every director can direct every kind of movie. A cinematic lark that's leaden where it should be light, "Duplicity" suffers from lukewarm chemistry between Roberts and Owen, pat messages about trust in relationships and a labored time-shifting structure that's never quite as clever as it wants to be. It's nice to see a filmmaker respect his audience enough to make them work, especially at a time when most movies aim to be as uncomplicated as possible, but a bigger, better (and less obvious) payoff would've helped make the effort worthwhile.

Did you know? Think a trip to Rome sounds nice? So did Gilroy, who admits to using the city as a location in the script with the hope of actually getting to film there. Of course having Julia Roberts agree to star in the movie helped.