Duplicity

They say revenge is a dish…well, you know the rest. ‘Duplicity’ is a twisty, witty, globe trotting spy’s night out at your favorite Italian restaurant, with a fine bottle of the house reserve. Of course, Julia Roberts and Clive Owen serve it up in a wonderful presentation. They play ex-spooks available to the highest bidder. Add a side dish of Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson, vying for your attention and we have a who’s-gonna-do-it in the grand tradition. If either of them went up in the supporting actor category, it would be to close to call. They made excellent use of the time and limited material they were provided with.

Owen has made great strides since his entrance onto the main stage in Croupier. He has steadily moved up the ranks and is now rubbing elbows with major star power. Not bad for a boy who seemed to misstep when overlooked as the heir to the 007 dynasty. Was it a fluke that he looked like the real McCoy (if only for a moment) decked out in a white dinner jacket for his first poolside scene with Ms. Roberts? Maybe. At any rate, Owen interacts well with Ms. Roberts and shows fine form. It appears that he is now firmly entrenched as the go to guy, the UK version of Nicholas Cage if you will. They even resemble one another.

Ms. Roberts is still A number one. She is quite cool and handles the role well. What, with a wagonload of talent on her heals it won’t be too long before she is bumped up to the Grand Old Dame home for yesterdays leading ladies. Don’t worry about her; she will be rewarded with elegant but tempered roles from here on out, albeit in the supporting category. There she will join the likes of Faye Dunaway, Helen Mirren, and Diane Carroll who have kept a seat warm for her at the bridge table.

‘Duplicity’ was written and directed by Tony Gilroy. He has an impressive resume as a writer: The recent ‘State of Play’, ‘Michael Clayton’ and the ‘Bourne’ Trilogy, He also directed ‘Michael Clayton’. The plot twists in ‘Duplicity’ are complicated only if you have the attention span of an action film connoisseur. In ‘Duplicity’, I found comedy, romance, suspense and intrigue. I also like the fact that not too much is given away early on. As an example, we do not know exactly why the services of the ex-agents are required. Gilroy does a solid job in piecing it together though (much like he did with Michael Clayton).

‘Duplicity’ is rounded out with nice performances from Oleg Shtefanko, as Owens’ field ops assistant; and Denis O’Hare, with Rick Worthy as the ops team leaders who provide some nice comic touches.
I recommend the film as seen on the Blu-ray edition. The picture is excellent, the sound quality superb (5.1 DTS HD, digital surround). I watch the material on a 40”, 120hz, 1080p high-end screen. I use headphones for all my reviewed as well. The extras however are limited to the ‘My Scenes’ feature mainly commentary provided by director Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy. That is OK, as I only use the commentary for subsequent screenings of films I find outstanding. The ‘Making of’ featurettes are nice, but not expected. Finally, I review all screenings directly after viewing.