‘Duplicity’ delivers unoriginal story

A few years ago, “Duplicity” could have been a hit. Now, however, we expect a little more from our suspense/romance/comedy hybrids.

The movie stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen as spies for their respective pharmaceutical companies. The two are actually romantically involved and are attempting to play the companies and take the money for themselves. The stars indeed exhibit some chemistry together, but it is in no way enough to carry the entire film, nor are they in enough scenes together early on to make anyone care.

The plot itself is pretty boring. As stated, the main characters are spies who are in love. For a better attempt at such a story, with a bonus of action sequences, see “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” If the point then is not action or romance, but interesting cons and comedy, see “Ocean’s Eleven.” “Duplicity” essentially is a marriage of these two different types of movies, but since it has come out after the release of the previously mentioned superior films, people will certainly expect more than what “Duplicity” offers. Even the twist at the end of the movie is not sufficient to merit real interest. It comes too late, with too little importance to be remembered.

The only eye-catching part of the film comes from the cinematographic techniques used to imply simultaneous action. The screen is often split into several pictures, each following some different action of the two lead characters or the leaders of their companies. Then, the next scene begins when one of the pictures expands back to fill the screen (for a better visual, think about an episode of “24”). Some of the other cool editing tricks are the few components of the film that make the audience stay in their seats.

As mentioned, there is also some chemistry between the two main actors, which is enjoyable. In the later scenes of the movie, they share more sequences that serve to reveal their relationship. Understandably, these come toward the middle and end because the point of the movie is to constantly question what characters are duplicitous (hence, the title). The problem with this setup is that the movie trailer gives away all of this. That leaves little point in the ambiguous sequences in the beginning and begs the question as to why Owens and Roberts do not get to cut straight to the chase. Another problem with the trailer is that is gives away one of the best jokes in the movie, and with that spoiled, the particular sequence is definitely left wanting.

Overall, “Duplicity” is simply a few years too late because so many of its predecessors told its story much better. At times the dialogue is fun, the idea that no one can completely trust anyone is interesting, and the actors do a perfectly serviceable job, but these details fall short in the end. Only go see it if it is a choice between this movie and “He’s Just Not That Into You.”