Duplicity is defined as deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another.
There's a lot of it going on in the film Duplicity.
Julia Roberts and Clive Owen star as the duplicitous couple at the heart of it all in this entertaining puzzle of a thriller.
Ray Koval (Clive Owen) has been recently hired by Equikrom, though you won’t find his name on any payroll. He’s part of a secret team that’s been tasked with spying on Burkett and Randle, Equikrom’s chief rival. Not only is the rivalry between the companies, but also the CEOs of each company hate each other.
In fact, Equikrom’s CEO Dick Garsik (Paul Giamatti) and Burkett and Randle’s CEO Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) literally beat the crap out of each other on the tarmac when they got off their respective private jets. Since then, each company has had it out for the other and Garsik developed his secret spy group to keep track of what the other company is developing.
The group has a mole in Burkett and Randle - in fact their mole Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) is part of the security group in the competing company. Ray goes to make contact with her to be her handler in the spy work. Things don’t go well at the meet since Claire is formerly of the CIA and stole valuable information from him when he was with MI6. However, things are not as they appear to be with Claire and Ray, but then again there are other things that are not as they appear either.
Probably the movie that Duplicity reminds me of is the original Thomas Crown Affair. It’s probably the use of the widescreen image and using multiple images that reminds me of it. Clive Owen exudes stylish cool, but however he’s not as radiant and the legendary Steve McQueen (but who is?). Faye Dunaway was a vision of 1960s loveliness and Julia Roberts has that same vibe and beauty.
Duplicity has everyone having a secret agenda and there’s even a cute twist ending. The film leans toward comedy and there are some funny moments, the fight between Wilkinson and Giamatti is shot in loving slow motion and brings a smile. Roberts and Owens play well against one another and their teaming is both cool and sexy.
The thing that might work against the film is the amount of flashbacks that it employs. Sometimes you wonder what timeframe you’re supposed to be in, you think you’ve got it figured out and we end up going back fourteen months or some other time. It’s a fun film, but who knew that the household products industry could be so cutthroat (not to mention the frozen pizza business).
Duplicity is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Special features include a commentary with writer/director Tony Gilroy and editor/co-producer John Gilroy. The disc is also BD-Live enhanced (if you have a player that is compatible).
Duplicity weaves a web that ends up catching the spiders that are weaving it and joins the list of enjoyable caper films. It does offer some subtle comedy amongst the intrigue and a pair of stars that are fetching and work well together. The twist ending does bring a smile as well as the pairing of Owen and Roberts.
Duplicity [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story