Review: Duplicity

Review: Duplicity

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%

OK, I confess. I had no idea what was going on in this movie. Don't ask me why they did this or that. I probably won't have an explanation. I could follow it well enough, but, when it was over, I started to ask questions like "Why didn't they just . . . ? Wouldn't they have accomplished the same thing if they'd only . . . ?"

The fact is that you don't really care about the answers. The film is only worth watching for two good reasons: Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. Both their delightful selves exude all over the screen. When they're not on camera, you really don't care. I guess that's star power. Without them, this film would never have been made. After all, they're spies who used to be in the CIA and MI5. Now, they just spy for corporations. No, not arms manufacturers. Pizza and beauty product manufacturers. Who else but these two could have made that interesting?

But I must mention one other standout performance in the film -- that of Paul Giamatti. Mr. Giamatti is the male Meryl Streep. He embodies his characters to the extent that we forget that Giamatti inhabits them. In this movie, he plays a corporate CEO for whom business is war. He should be nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor Oscar for one unforgettable scene in which he addresses his troops as effectively as Henry V at Agincourt.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it