Duplicity Reviews

roberts

is back with one of the future bests in this classic !!

Who gets played?

Well, from the film title it's clear someone is out to be played (or conned in other words), but who, exactly could that be?

The film is not very easy to follow with flashbacks all over the place that muddle the plotline somewhat. However, despite the odd flashbacks that didn't really have much of a sequence to it, it was possible to follow the story to the end.Personally I found the film tedious to watch, as it lacked the pace that was necessary to keep the viewer interested.I guess I found it really hard to believe how mucky coroporate espionage is and to what extraordinarily great lengths companies will go to, to top the competition.I wasn't particularly interested in watching the film but my friend is a huge Owen fan and wanted to see the film , so I went along. On this occasion the film is sadly, as lacklustre as the trailer!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Not worth the effort

This film is awful, it jumps around all over the place. If it were interesting that that would be fair enough, but it is boring & pointless.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A big let down

I really enjoy watching Julia Roberts USUALLY and it's true to say that she's ok in this film but the plot is so jumpy going back and forth that after about 20 mins you loose it completely and give up trying to follow it. Clive Owen is as wooden as a park bench and not at all attention grabing on the screen. The story line is clever and could have been put across so much better. Don't waste your money or time in seeing this film.

A Terrible Movie With Expensive Cast

I don’t usually write reviews on here but having sat through this movie I just felt I had to warn others not to bother seeing it.

The problem with this movie is that the two central characters Ray (Clive Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts) are so distinctly unlikable that you really don’t care whether they succeed or fail in this corporate espionage caper.

The central premise is that these two are former government espionage agents from their respective countries who fall for each other and so plot to leave their day jobs to enter the corporate sector as agents for competing corporate giants with a view to ripping off their respective employers and retiring to a life of luxury.

Yes the intricacies of the plot maybe considered a little confusing but this isn’t helped by the fact that after committing 40 minutes to these characters the viewer is so utterly turned off by them that it is really hard to care how, or if, they’re going to succeed and or double-cross each other should they prove successful.

The most irritating parts are the frequent flashbacks to previous meetings between the two which seek to establish how they fall in love and how they come to agree on this con-job. Every time one of these set-pieces began I heard myself groaning as the two of them enter into the same predictable babble as they seek to test each other’s trust before getting on with the job in hand, each flashback holds up the main storyline action to the point that you feel like getting up and making a cup of tea while Owen and Roberts go through the usual

I felt watching the movie that this had all been done before…and a lot better. Prizzis Honour for instance throws two people together who have to be duplicitous within the nature of their work (hitman and hitwoman) and fall in love despite the strains of the greater opposing powers outside their relationship. Despite a hammy performance by Jack Nicholson the relationship feels more believable and you care about whether they will double-cross each other come the final credits.

Duplicity’s central relationship is dull and unbelievable with neither character seemingly able to add some zest into their union to inspire the viewer to care, and this is so essential to the whole premise of the movie that therefore any of the other positive factors (such as the supporting performances by Wilkinson and Giamatti as the two warring chiefs of their respective corporate tribes) are entirely lost in a deeply dull and disappointing movie experience.

Avoid at all costs….

a muddle of a film

a disappointing film from the writer of the Bourne trilogy (BT) which I love. This film wastes the talents of Julia Roberts and Clive Owen - although the script is snappy, you never believe that there is anything between them. the time sequence is very confusing, and the plot does NOT all fall into place - giving the impression that it was over edited and some vital scenes were cut. Some scenes and many characters remain unexplained which puzzled and irritated us and our friends. It Should have been a great film but I wont be watching it again, unlike B.T. - (although even in the BT there are vital deleted scenes on DVD which clarify the action .....)

[Highly rated reviewer]

didn´t get it

it might be me, but i got bored and turned off halfway

THE WORST FILM EVER

If you want to waste nearly 2hours off your life watch this, if not then avoid at all costs....

It has a very basic storyline, its not funny, no action, VERY bland, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen are getting worse!

Dont rush out to see it

The plot of intelliegence and counter intelligence is made more complicated by jumping back and forth in time.

Dont rush to watch this one, wait till this film comes on TV.

what a waste of time

Well what a waste of my Saturday night. The most stupid pointless film I have ever watched, no thought out plot, poor acting. The only good part in fact was that it ended.