Java Man Reviews "Duplicity" Originally appeared in LakewoodBuzz.com April, 2009.
OVERVIEW:
Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen) are government agents (US and British) who first meet on assignment in Dubai. They sleep together, he gets drugged and she steals his secret documents. When Ray wakes up, she's gone and so is his MI6 self respect. When he finally catches up with her, she asks "what kind of revenge do you have in mind?" Three days later they emerge from a hotel room, exhausted and very much in love--or are they? Can we believe them? Can they trust each other? But what else are two respectable spooks supposed to do with their time, now that the cold war is over? The big money, they come to discover, is in corporate espionage. Shampoos and conditioners, face cream formulas and frozen pizzas are the raisons d'être of the new cold war. It is especially profitable if two competing CEOs can't stand one another, as in the case of Burkett & Randle's Howard Tully (Wilkinson) and Equikrom's Dick Garsik (Giamatti). The film opens with a comical brawl between the two when they happen to meet on a rain-soaked tarmac where their company jets are parked. Ray and Claire each obtain a position in one of the two corporate spy networks and begin to "play" their bosses--and one another. Or are they being played? At stake is a top-secret formula so mysterious that not even the spies know what it is.
REVIEW: 3 Java Mugs out of 4
A MacGuffin, according to Hitchcock, is "what the spies are after, but the audience don't care." This must be the ultimate MacGuffin, because not only do we not care, we don't even know what it is until nearly the end of the movie. But rest assured that this MacGuffin is one which Hitchcock himself would personally appreciate.
There are hidden cameras, hidden microphones, secret meetings, secret formulas, spies following spies--everything you crave for your spy movie fix. Exotic locations are also part of the pleasure, including Dubai, Rome, London, New York and even a quick trip to Cleveland where they become briefly involved in a frozen pizza plot.
Storytelling technique is a bit confusing at first. Flashback's are used with split screen images to reveal the plans of the two rogue agents as they scheme to strike it rich. It eventually becomes clear that each flashback is bringing the narrative toward the present and toward the story's somewhat surprising conclusion.
Roberts and Owen are fine, but neither their roles as written nor their acting styles add anything to the time-tested characterizations of cinema spies. They are clever and resourceful but perhaps a bit too predictable. The two corporate moguls, on the other hand, are by far the most fascinating characters in the film. More screen time for these two, especially Wilkinson, would have added greatly to the movie's appeal.
OVERVIEW:
Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen) are government agents (US and British) who first meet on assignment in Dubai. They sleep together, he gets drugged and she steals his secret documents. When Ray wakes up, she's gone and so is his MI6 self respect. When he finally catches up with her, she asks "what kind of revenge do you have in mind?" Three days later they emerge from a hotel room, exhausted and very much in love--or are they? Can we believe them? Can they trust each other? But what else are two respectable spooks supposed to do with their time, now that the cold war is over? The big money, they come to discover, is in corporate espionage. Shampoos and conditioners, face cream formulas and frozen pizzas are the raisons d'être of the new cold war. It is especially profitable if two competing CEOs can't stand one another, as in the case of Burkett & Randle's Howard Tully (Wilkinson) and Equikrom's Dick Garsik (Giamatti). The film opens with a comical brawl between the two when they happen to meet on a rain-soaked tarmac where their company jets are parked. Ray and Claire each obtain a position in one of the two corporate spy networks and begin to "play" their bosses--and one another. Or are they being played? At stake is a top-secret formula so mysterious that not even the spies know what it is.
REVIEW: 3 Java Mugs out of 4
A MacGuffin, according to Hitchcock, is "what the spies are after, but the audience don't care." This must be the ultimate MacGuffin, because not only do we not care, we don't even know what it is until nearly the end of the movie. But rest assured that this MacGuffin is one which Hitchcock himself would personally appreciate.
There are hidden cameras, hidden microphones, secret meetings, secret formulas, spies following spies--everything you crave for your spy movie fix. Exotic locations are also part of the pleasure, including Dubai, Rome, London, New York and even a quick trip to Cleveland where they become briefly involved in a frozen pizza plot.
Storytelling technique is a bit confusing at first. Flashback's are used with split screen images to reveal the plans of the two rogue agents as they scheme to strike it rich. It eventually becomes clear that each flashback is bringing the narrative toward the present and toward the story's somewhat surprising conclusion.
Roberts and Owen are fine, but neither their roles as written nor their acting styles add anything to the time-tested characterizations of cinema spies. They are clever and resourceful but perhaps a bit too predictable. The two corporate moguls, on the other hand, are by far the most fascinating characters in the film. More screen time for these two, especially Wilkinson, would have added greatly to the movie's appeal.