Staff Picks BlogThe first time I watched Duplicity I got totally lost.
The second time I watched it I had the basic plot, but I still missed a bunch.
I love movies that confuse me. Writer/Director Tony Gilroy, is a master at playing with time lines. And if you’re not paying attention he’ll just get you lost. Even though I’ve watched this multiple times, I’m still confused.
Film guru Roger Ebert said it best – it’s like Spy vs. Spy The Movie.
Duplicity feels like a cross between The Usual Suspects and an old school espionage movie. Nothing is quite what it seems. But then again, everything is exactly what it seems – only not.
There’s a cross that you see coming, and a double cross you can predict. And the one after that we see unfold. But the one after that – wait.. how many was that again? We think we know who’s scamming who, and why. And we think we know who’s who. But do we really? And we see the sparks fly between the main characters – but is that a set up too?
Claire (Julia Roberts) and Ray (Clive Owen) first met 9 years ago in Dubai, when she was working for the CIA and he for MI6. In true spy v. spy form she sets him up, he takes the fall, and she walks away with the prize. Years later both have moved into the private sector working high tech security. Or is it espionage?
Their paths cross again 9 years later when they end up working for rival multinational corporations. Or are they? Was it really coincidence that brought them together again? Is this really only the 2nd time they’ve met? We know there’s more going on here than meets they eye, and so do Claire and Ray. The more they don’t trust each other, the more we begin to wonder what we should believe. Who’s playing who? And is the audience being played too?
But then, figuring that out is half the fun!
