Multiplicity (1996)

Director:

Harold Ramis

Writers (WGA):

Chris Miller (short story)
Chris Miller (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

17 July 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Comedy

Tagline:

Sometimes to get more out of life, you have to make more of yourself.

Plot:

A man who never has enough time for the things he wants to do is offered the opportunity to have himself duplicated.

Plot Keywords:

Clone | Construction | Cloning | Construction Company | Seasick

Cast

Michael Keaton	...	Doug Kinney
Andie MacDowell	...	Laura Kinney
Zack Duhame	...	Zack Kinney
Katie Schlossberg	...	Jennifer Kinney
Harris Yulin	...	Dr. Leeds
Richard Masur	...	Del King
Eugene Levy	...	Vic
Ann Cusack	...	Noreen
John de Lancie	...	Ted
Judith Kahan	...	Franny
Brian Doyle-Murray	...	Walt
Obba Babatundé	...	Paul
Julie Bowen	...	Robin
Dawn Maxey	...	Beth
Kari Coleman	...	Patti

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual situations.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Netherlands:AL | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In filming the shot in which Doug #1 introduces Doug #3 to Doug #2, Doug #2 tosses a beer to Doug #1. Michael Keaton catching the beer (tossed by a body double) was shot first. Keaton tossing the beer (this time *to* a body double) was filmed later. Keaton's toss so perfectly matched the body double's original toss, that the planned special effect of digitally erasing the tossed beer can then adding in a digital beer can was not needed, thereby saving the production quite a bit of money. This was referred to by the special effects crew as "The Million Dollar Miracle Beer Can Toss".

Goofs:

Continuity: The cereal box in Doug Kinney's hand changes between shots.

Quotes:

Doug Kinney #2: My life's a shambles. I need pie.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XIII (#14.1)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

The House Is Rockin'

A solid and hilarious comedy

Though nowhere near as good as Groundhog Day (director Harold Ramis's previous movie) this is still a solid comedy with several big laughs. Though its situation of a man cloning himself in order to make his life more manageable would have been an interesting one to play with a serio-comic focus, Multiplicity - despite some token moralizing - is pretty much content to play its premise for wacky farce. As such, however, it does an expert job: the timing in the scenes is impeccable and the interplay between the main characters is sharp and memorable. This is especially amazing since the "main characters" here are almost exclusively played by Michael Keaton. His ability to not only delineate between the four versions of himself, but also to play each of these "selves" off convincingly against the others is nothing short of superb. In my mind, this represents a much more awesome achievement than does Eddie Murphy's similar multiple role-playing in The Nutty Professor - and here it's not just pointless showboating (there was no reason besides vanity that Murphy had to play every member of his family), but absolutely intrinsic to the movie's success. Essentially, the film rides on Keaton's ability to do precisely what he does as well as he does. Multiplicity represents his funniest film work in years, and perhaps his best ever.

A couple of scenes in particular stand out as howlingly funny set pieces - such as the one in the restaurant and the one where the clones are left alone with Keaton's wife, played by Andie McDowell. It's a shame her character wasn't at least a little bit more sketched in by the writers (compare this, for example, to her wonderfully three dimensional role in Groundhog Day) - it might have made the film a little fuller. In fact, none of the supporting characters are really given much to do here, making it solidly a one man show. But what a show! With Keaton truly hitting every comic grace note available, you don't really have much time to notice or care about the lack of secondary characters. I have seen this film four times and it has yet to lose one iota of its hilarity or charm. Hey, how much more can you demand from a comedy?