movies: duplicity

I have a confession to make... and I know it will make some people think less of me, but you know what, I really don't care. I want to get it out in the open, just lay my cards on the table...

I really like Julia Roberts.

There, I've said it... which brings me (in a somewhat ham fisted way) to Duplicity...

This movie has more layers than a freakin' onion, I swear! It's one part Ocean's Eleven, one part romantic comedy (no direct comparison springs to mind). And every time you think you've got it figured out, we go into another flashback and another layer is revealed...

It is definitely a movie that once it's over, you kind of want to turn around and go straight back into the theatre and see it again... not because it's the best thing ever made, but just because you want to make sure that you caught all the twists and turns.

Ma said to me on our way down to the theatre that the story was originally written for Julia and George Clooney (although IMDB has no trivia listings, so I can't confirm or deny that)... and that could have been fun, it might have been nice, although I do think it would have been treading way too much on the toes of the Ocean movies. Plus Clive Owen is a better fit to the way the character ended up... as Ma said afterwards, there's a slight roughness to Owen that Clooney doesn't have any more... George is just too slick these days, whereas Clive feels more real (in what is a very "unreal" movie).

The supporting cast does a fantastic job too, they're an eclectic bunch, but I don't think there's a bad actor amongst them... they're mostly "unknowns" (or at least not recognisable character actors) with the exception of the two company directors played with relish by Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti. I'm not sure if the characters are loosely based on any real CEO's, but they both do such a great job, especially Giamatti, that it feels like they might be. And the slow motion opening title scene containing the two of them is just hilarious... it was at that point that I knew exactly the kind of movie I could expect for the next two hours.

All in all, it's a fun, complicated, layered, enjoyable, suspenseful ride...

yani's rating: 3 American embassies out of 5