With a jazzy score, twisty-turny plot, split-screens and scads of romantic banter between two attractive, well-tailored leads who never quite know whether or not one is hustling the other, “Duplicity” wants very much to catch the vibe of those romantic capers of the 60s; films like “Charade” (1963), “How to Steal a Million” (1966) and “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968) where the MacGuffin is merely an excuse to wrap an energetic love story around a couple of beautiful, bankable movie stars. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy has certainly assembled all the elements, but lacking are any serious sparks between the leads and a compelling, coherent plot.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are Ray and Clair, she’s former CIA, he once worked for MI-6. Five years ago, while still protecting their respective countries, they had what you might call an “encounter” that went better for her than for him. Five years later they bump into each other, only now their spy skills are being put to good use at rival Manhattan conglomerates just as one is about to launch an earth-shattering product and the other is prepared to do anything to steal it.
In this genre, the plot’s nowhere as near as important as our wanting the two leads to find a way to be together. This emotional undercurrent must run through all the double and triple crosses, various played angles and meticulously planned shenanigans. To successfully pull this off you need stars who share certain chemistry and a script that hits the right character notes in creating two people who need each other, which is where “Duplicity” is most lacking.
Like the film’s poster, sterility overwhelms everything. From the lazy trope of portraying corporate America as bland and cold to the overuse of wide shots in big, empty rooms, the warmth a successful romance requires to be enveloped in is drained even before it has a chance to build. The actors don’t help, either. Stuck with a script that’s entirely too self-conscious in its desire to create banter, neither of them gives off a hint of longing or heat beneath the flurry of “clever” words. This isn’t acting, it’s attitude.
The caper has only two truly engaging scenes, the rest is confusing as we jump back and forth in time; a year here, a few months there. And much too much time is eaten up filling in a back-story between Ray and Clair that would’ve been much more satisfying had it been explained with a line or two of dialogue and our own imagination.
The plot also suffers from M. Night Shyamalan Syndrome, whereas the final twist is not earned, only there for the sake of having a final twist and gives off the impression that the film was written backwards to arrive at this moment.
“Duplicity” is paced well and does have a certain energy; it just lacks heart and substance. Wait for DVD, but in the meantime, if the promise of “Duplicity” has made you hungry for this kind of thing, take another look at John McTiernan’s “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), an underrated, sexy, smart remake that surpasses the original with two stars (Rene Russo and Pierce Brosnan) that throw off enough heat for five films.
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