Duplicity ripped

One minute into the movie and I was already on the verge of a heartache watching Julia Robert’s shabby makeup, sagging face and near frumpy dress. I have never been much of a Clive Owens fan and I was unimpressed by the witty tete-a-tete that made their love making (no flesh flash here) inevitable.

But I think that was the strategy-incremental pleasure!

Duplicity is about two espionage aces who decide to cash on the war between two cosmetic giants. The movie takes you back and forth in time lest you lose the thread of events. And what unfolds is an impressive, cerebral drama.

In the dog eats dog game our corporate spies are engaged in, mutual trust is hard to sustain. Mutually suspicious and ever ready with preemptive moves, they are however not above human frailties of insecurity, loneliness and need for love.

Julia though the scheming bitch is jealous and ready to dump the swindle as Clive Owens justifies seducing other women as part of the game.

Keep your ears open each time Julia and Ownes rendezvous. Their dialogues as they steal away private moments are the wittiest.

The leading actors are perfectly matched. Clive Owens looks handsome and Julia older (I am still hung on to the pretty woman).

I do not know if Julia and Owens have chemistry but Owens confrontation with Julia years after their first meeting is high power. It helps that Julia’s makeup gets better after the heart breaking first scene.

An interesting shot in the movie is the scuffle between the two cosmetic company heads. Shot in slow motion, the scene, which plays along with the credits, beautifully captures the expressions and body languages of the warring men as well as the onlookers.

I would have considered my 100 dollars a little better spent if the action scenes (whatever was there of it) had been better executed. The theft of the formula was a cakewalk.

Agreed the movie cannot be attacked for the trite stealing scene, as it fit in its scheme of events but after laughing at all the implied humour, I expected more from ex-CIA and MI6. Haven’t they heard of James Bond or is MI6 Bond sui generis?

A sucker for high adrenaline and dramatic endings, I was however happy with the movie’s end.

The audience is let into the fun much before it dawns upon the leading characters. But then maybe the movie and its characters were antithesis to the Bond genre.