Duplicity (2009)

“Deny everything. Admit nothing. Make counter-accusations ” – Claire Stenwick

Number of Times Seen – Twice (10 July 2009 and 5 Apr 2021)

Brief Synopsis – Two former spy’s who now work in the corporate world try to outmaneuver one another when their companies try to gain information about one another, but their personal relationship keeps getting in the way.

My Take on it – Rally boring film that doesn’t work because of the way that it tries to keep things complex and confusing.

The story is told in a non-liner fashion which complicates matters even more.

Julia Robert and Clive Owen are both great actors, but the chemistry between them in this film is poorly done and that makes the viewer wonder why they even try to get them together.

The plot itself makes little sense and the attempt to make things even more confusing for the viewer along the way succeeds because it helps make a mess of everything that transpires here.

The tongue-in-cheek direction of things also doesn’t work and actually makes things work even less because of the way that they have attempted to transfer a spy film into the corporate world in a very unsuccessful manner.

The pacing is off and things never seem to find a way to stay engaging to the viewer as things unfold.

The supporting cast also doesn’t help even when they have other top tier actors in prominent roles like Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti who end up just playing caricatures instead of real corporate innovators.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The character of Claire Stenwick is named for classic-era movie actress Barbara Stanwyck. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (4/10)