For a director obsessed with unexpected plot twists, Tony
Gilroy’s latest project feels awfully familiar. Duplicity is his
latest plunge into the world of corporate espionage, and while 2007’s
Michael Clayton came off well—in large part due to the
depth of character given to and executed by Tilda Swinton, as a lonely,
sympathetically evil executive—this time around, Gilroy shepherds
Julia Roberts and Clive Owen through a much lighter-hearted romcom
version of the game, with tepid results. Bet you didn’t see that
coming.
Duplicity opens with an encounter between two government
operatives, Claire (Roberts) and Ray (Owen). They part ways after
sleeping together (for spying purposes, of course!) but never forget
each other, eventually re-meeting and falling in love. Other than the
fact they’re both chronically untrusting, their other crucial flaw is
greed: They make a pact to “go private,” landing jobs for rival
corporations with the aim of stealing a valuable secret to the tune of
about $40 million. It’s not like they can just retire modestly to a
quiet house in the country, after all, accustomed as they are to
globetrotting through five-star hotels and wearing a wide variety of
stupid sunglasses.
Duplicity is old school in many ways, and perhaps
overcompensates for its fluffy protagonists by going full-bore with the
convolution of its plot. This is significantly less interesting without
any element to create a sense of real danger. The men in power here are
the heads of pharmaceutical companies, who are played by Tom Wilkinson
and Paul Giamatti, and are first introduced via a slow motion scene in
which they engage in a laughably inept fistfight. Eccentric and
egotistical, yes, but neither one of these men is interested in or
capable of ordering any sinister executions, or even the breaking of an
occasional finger. Essentially, all this leaves the audience to worry
about is whether or not Claire and Ray’s arrogance and sense of
entitlement is justified.
As idle entertainment, Duplicity is serviceable, with several
scenes worthy of a slightly tighter grip on your armrests. But in the
vast catalog of spy movies, this one barely registers, and whatever
impact it has in the moment is quickly, effortlessly forgotten. Indeed,
even the ending’s final twist—intended to floor the
audience—feels sloppy and under-justified. Here’s hoping Gilroy’s
next film—the investigative journalism drama State of
Play—will find ways to surprise us.