MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 2:05 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| Duplicity Movie Stats & Links |
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| Starring: | Julia Roberts, Clive Owen |
| MPAA Rated: | PG-13 |
| Released By: | Universal Home Entertainment |
| Release Date: | 2009 |
| Kiddie Movie: | They’d be bored. Really bored. |
| Date Movie: | My BFF liked the story but thought it was too long. |
| Gratuitous Sex: | Julia Roberts getting naked would have been shocking, and there is an almost side shot, and they are romantic, but nah. |
| Gratuitous Violence: | Nope. |
| Action: | Nah. |
| Laughs: | Not really. |
| Memorable Scene: | The ending is supposed to be shocking, but by then I was just bored. |
| Memorable Quote: | Nothing. |
| Directed By: | Tony Gilroy |
DVD Review
Two words can describe “Duplicity,” and those two words are simply, “Too long.”
Let’s start with the story…
In “Duplicity” we get two government agents, Ray (Clive Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts). As it takes too long to develop, we eventually discover that Ray and Claire are disgruntled with the low-payingness of government work and realize that if they went into the private sector that they can use their spying skills to make some money. Eventually we figure out what we think is going on, namely that Ray and Claire have infiltrated two different corporate “intelligence” divisions, looking to spy on the rival corporation. But, in the case of Ray and Claire, they are looking to steal some corporate secrets and sell them to the highest bidder, and they think they have found their mark.
However, for our couple, their relationship is both business and personal, as they discovered with their first meeting that they have a sexual chemistry and as their history moves on, they have to covertly hook back up to keep things going. As the movie progresses we are treated to current time, to flash-backs, to wondering why this is happening again but in a different situation, to finally getting the big reveal that by the time it comes just seems to be a let-down. Also during it all we get the simple plot of if Ray and Claire can actually trust the other person not to screw them over.
As a basic movie I loved the premise dealing with corporate espionage, the two characters, Ray and Claire using their history as spies to infiltrate and steal corporate secrets, and they looked good together where you could almost believe the chemistry between the two of them. The problem comes in where the movie just continued to keep flipping the plot to keep trying to confuse you, the viewer, so that, as I said, at the end you just don’t care who is stealing what from whom.
I liked Julia Roberts in her role, Clive Owen was good, and I always love Paul Giamatti, but “Duplicity” really doesn’t need 2 hours to drag us through plot twist followed by plot twist followed by plot twist to get us to the eventual ending. Had the story been buttoned up to a little over an hour and a half I could have kept with it, but as I watching the DVD on the couch with my BFF, all I kept thinking about, an hour into the movie, was “where in the hell is this going” and “I wish I had my laptop so I could check my Facebook page.” It’s 2 stars out of 5 for “Duplicity” because it did trick me with the eventual ending, but by then it just seemed like such a waste of time.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!