Writer/director Tony Gilroy is trying to close Hollywood’s ingenuity gap all by himself.
Gilroy last gave us “Michael Clayton,” the brisk and bright legal thriller that packed more ambition than a half dozen John Grisham potboilers.
Now, he’s delivered “Duplicity,” a tale of dueling spies so convoluted you’ll long for a Cliffs Notes version of the script before it’s all done.
The film stars Clive Owen and Julia Roberts as super spies who give up on international espionage to work closer to home. Corporations need them to spy on their competitors. Can’t have your enemy develop a new lotion or cream that will transform your industry – and bankrupt you all at once, right?
It’s another anti-corporate screed from Hollywood, but it’s such a clever concept that most, if not all, is easily forgiven.
But our superspies save enough time to fall for one another. But can you really trust a spy with your heart?
“Duplicity” plays fast and loose with its own narrative, jumping back and forth in time to set up the duo’s sticky love affair. Are they really in love, or is the audience being scammed?
Owen and Roberts click nicely on screen, but they’re often upstaged by another pair of sly veterans. Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti pop up too infrequently as the heads of two battling corporations who will stop at nothing to improve their bottom lines.
The film’s best scene is its first – in which the two corporate titans trade blows in slow motion.
But “Duplicity” is just getting started. Crisp dialogue, inventive scene-within-a-scene framing and an overall story that folds in on itself like a Rubik’s cube. It’s all here, and it’s all … exhausting. The film’s final moments up the ante, if that’s possible, leaving audiences dazed and contused.
“Duplicity” is smarter than your average movie, with wink-wink dialogue and some bristling performances. If only Gilroy had eased up on the throttle he might have made a movie that could sit comfortably alongside classic capers of yore.
(Photo: Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play corporate spies in “Duplicity,” a tricky love story – slash – espionage thriller.)
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Boo hiss Christian! This is one of my favorite types of movies, and this was one of the better ones in this genre that I’ve seen. Thanks for letting me tag along.
Glad you dug it … but I gotta stand by my comments. I’m also reading some folks saying Julia was too old for the role … would be curious to get your thoughts on that line of thinking.