The Duplicity Post

Duplicity is a tough movie for me to review because it is so bland I can’t rant or rave about it- which generally makes for boring blog posts when it comes to a reviewing things (least in my case). The movie failed to excel in any given category and left a bland taste of nothingness in my mouth after leaving the theater. I had high hopes for the film,
Not-so-secretly-hoping it would be a marriage of Ocean’s 11 and Mrs. & Mrs. Smith, based on what I had seen from the trailers, and deliver as a quirky crime drama/romantic comedy. Unfortunately nothing about this film impresses.

There is a lot wrong with this mess but the real kicker is that the whole thing relies on the performances of its leads (Owen and Roberts) but sticks them with stereotypical, cardboard-cutout roles that are pretty much self-centered conmen who are completely unrelatable on all fronts and fail to woo or charm anyone but themselves. The director clearly picked two people he thinks would look good in bed together and slapped them on the cast list without a second thought because there is zero chemistry in this movie between the two otherwise competent actors.

Considering this movie is essentially a longwinded chronicle of said non-existent chemistry (with a side of cliche money grabbing) it is safe to label this movie a failure.

Besides the soulless cast, the film’s plot is redundantly pointless. I found it far too much effort to care about two wooden characters stealing formulas from stereotypically evil shampoo companies… taking into account all the wrongdoing that goes on in this world I think they could have come up with something a little more engaging.

The whole thing just felt like a big waste of time. Do yourself a favor and skip this one.