Saturday, March 21, 2009

Duplicity

This is a caper movie and a love story.  Not your standard love story, though.  It's about whether two people who really don't trust each other can be in love.  Maybe some level of distrust exists in every relationship, but in this case the level is about as high as it can get.  

The less said about the rest of the plot, the better.  The fun of the movie is for you to keep up with the twists and turns and to decide who's gaming who.  Or whom.  I have a feeling that at some point most readers of this blog will figure it out, not because you're brilliant (though of course you are) but because you've read way too much and seen way too many movies.

Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are the leads.  Judy kept asking my why Clive Owen, who, she insists, would have been perfect, wasn't picked to play James Bond.  I didn't have a good answer.  He's suave and attractive, and he has the moves and the accent.  Julia Roberts might not be a great actress, but she's a great presence.  And Paul Giamatti pretty much steals the movie, chewing the scenery as he did in Shoot 'em Up.  His performance alone is worth the ticket price.

Here's a little aside for you.  We sat on the back row.  Looking out over the audience, I thought I was at a Q-Tip convention.  This is clearly not a movie for the whippersnapper generation.  I guess they were all at I Love You, Man.  Not that we geezers all liked the movie.  As we left the theater, I overheard one man say to the woman he was with, "That was the worst movie I ever saw. Two hours of nothing."   And the woman said, "I just kept wondering when something was going to happen."  Maybe they should have gone to Knowing.  

Anyway, while there are a few things in it that I question, Judy and I liked it.  It's very slick, very well done, and plenty happens, though I have to admit there are no explosions.  Check it out.

3 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think everyone wondered why he was chosen to play Bond. Thanks for the review. After the one in the NYT, I knew I had to see it.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the movies we went to in Florida, Bill, which was a good way to make us feel young! Everyone else's hair was gray or white!

Jeff

Paul Bishop said...

Great movie. Took me back to the days of Charade and Arabesque. And, yes . . . he should have been James Bond.