Duplicity, if anything, is fun and for the most part knows it. In fact, the best comparison that can be made is to the show “Burn Notice”. Both are hip, sleek, sexy, and entertaining thanks to solid talent and some solid writing. Unlike USA’s television show though, Duplicity tries too hard to be complicated. What makes it painful is that the unneeded complexities slow down and damage an otherwise fun caper.
Duplicity
The film opens in the year 2003 in Dubai where we’re introduced to Ray Koval (Clive Owen) and Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) both of whom are spies. They hook up and Claire steals information from Ray, and leaves him in his room alone. After an interesting opening credits, we flash forward to present day and Ray finds himself once again working with Claire who’s working undercover for Burkett-Randle’s industry titan Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson). Her – and Ray’s – objective is to uncover what Tully’s company’s (name escapes me right now) new project is that will revolutionize them so Omnikron CEO Dick Garsik (Paul Giamatti) can have it first and make trillions off of it.
For all the good the script does, it tries to undo the fun it provides by trying to over-complicate itself. This film doesn’t need to have great character development in order to be entertaining. Writer-director Tony Gilroy doesn’t think so, as he hits us with flashbacks explaining how Ray and Claire meet and how they become entangled with the rival companies. Quite honestly, at first these flashbacks were swimming along with the rest of the flick. An hour and five flashbacks later it grows old and feels like we get the same scene, different dialogue or SSDD. These sequences start out building the characters and then turn into a tedious game of ‘meet up, insult the other, have sex, then leave’. They also slow down a narrative that is paced considerably well and introduces a lot of exposition that can leave one confused when it really didn’t have to.
When the script isn’t assaulting us with trying to be a puzzle, it’s really witty. Owen plays the straight man to Roberts, who returns to the role we’re used to seeing her in. Both characters are very well-written and come off as two spies who seem to enjoy torturing the other (Roberts more than Owen, though). Giamatti knows Dick Garsik, lives up to his name, and has a load of fun with it. He’s sleazy, knows it and doesn’t care. Paul is pitch-perfect at capturing all of that, and a little more. On the opposite end, Tom Wilkinson plays the quieter, more reserved CEO who prefers to handle his business under the table rather than tell some guy to fornicate himself. Tom McCarthy from ‘The Wire’ also makes an appearance and seems to be making a career of playing slimy assholes. He was like that on ‘The Wire’ and he’s no different here. He’s more tolerable here because his character isn’t as big a douche as Scott.
At the end of the day though, this is the Roberts and Owen show. They have a chemistry that really electrifies the screen and will please the general audience who is there to see one or both of the leads. Sure, both are embodying roles they’ve played countless times (except Owen’s allowed to have fun this time). In the grand scheme it doesn’t matter because they’re way too great at playing these types. I mentioned Claire loves to torture Ray and it’s fun to watch Roberts softly smile as she’s yanking on Ray’s chain. From Owen’s perspective, it’s equally fun to watch him get angrier and angrier as Claire antagonizes him. It’d really be great if these two could hook up again in a film later on down the road a la Roberts and Gere.
Hopefully by then they’ll have a film that doesn’t shoot itself in the foot. Duplicity really is a lot of fun but it hurts itself by telling a non-linear story when it didn’t have to. What could have been a great little film in a lackluster movie season is marred by it’s greatest strength. Tony Gilroy does have a great direction and there are bits to enjoy, notably the opening credits and any scene Roberts and Owen share. However when you have so much stuff to follow in the main narrative, it hurts and takes away from the overall film when you throw in flashbacks we ultimately didn’t need. Duplicity is a fun, adult film that will please crowds but should have been a lot more than it is.
