Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Twice the vice: "Duplicity"

Interesting experiment here.I generally like Clive Owen. I generally don't like Julia Roberts. Their last collaboration, "Closer," was somewhat tolerable because (a) I was curious to see who would end up with who, (b) Natalie Portman did the stripper thing and (c) Owen turned out to be, as Bridget Jones' mum would say, "quite the little sh*t." But on the whole, I find Julia Roberts neither that talented nor -- and this may hurt a little -- that hot. Not even the girl next door thing. And as we saw from her Oscar Awards speech, she's not exactly keeping the company of Stephen Hawking.

All that said, "Duplicity" had potential for some good fun, and it is an intriguing hybrid of romance and caper. Directed by Tony Gilroy, the guy who did "Michael Clayton," our tale introduces a couple of spies, Brit Owen and American Roberts, who meet cute in Dubai. One wrongs the other, and we catch up with them years later, when they're both working for a big pharma corporation that is locked in a death struggle with a rival company. Roberts is a sleeper agent in the rival, and Owen is her new handler. Hijinks ensue? Yes, but not as you might expect.

We soon jump back and forth in time, seeing where these two actually met between the first and most recent times. Turns out there's something more there, and it could mean big bucks at the expense of these two megacorps, headed by Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson (seen wrestling with each other at an airport as the movie opens).

The twists and turns were enough to keep me watching, and you can't help but wonder if these lovers/partners will get away with it. Owen also has a pretty good scene where he seduces a woman in the rival company's travel department. I mean, can you picture this guy saying an appletini sounds good? Me, neither, but there he is ...

I'll confess the ending was a bit of a letdown, and to say more would probably ruin the twist. But I'll say this: For a couple of people who were such pros at espionage and so careful otherwise, the key shortcoming was hard to swallow. Even so, Owen and Roberts are both pretty good. Roberts is older than 40 now, and carrying a little more curve. It suits her, I think, and while I'm not sure I buy her as a spy, she did better than I thought.

And Owen is ... Owen. I haven't seen all his work, and I'm betting I'm not missing anything with "Derailed." But from "Croupier" to "Sin City" to "Closer" to "Inside Man" to "Children of Men," the guy is good, and he's a great fit as a spy not quite up to Roberts' level. I still wish he had taken a shot as James Bond, but if that's not going to happen, this turn as a corporate spy will have to do.

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