'Duplicity': Starry-Eyed Hollywood Surprise

by Brett Parker

The opening scene of Duplicity shows Clive Owen approaching Julia Roberts at a lavish poolside party. Both are dressed in elegant summer styles and the camera basks them in a sun-soaked glow that makes them shine like the stars they are. Owen tries to hit on Roberts with confident smoothness while Roberts scans his charms with a knowing sassiness only a true slickster could surpass. As I stared at all this on the big screen, I thought: have I wandered into Hollywood heaven?

I’m happy to report that things only get better from there. Duplicity is a classy and breezy exercise in classic Hollywood banter, a dizzying look at inter-corporate espionage, and a plot twist extravaganza that reaches considerably absurd yet fun heights. Plausibility may get stretched and patience may get tested, but at least we get to see two charming movie stars having fun with being charming movie stars.

The film places Owen and Roberts in the roles of secret agents from competing agencies (he’s MI-6, she’s C.I.A.). Ray (Owen) and Claire (Roberts) meet and fall in love, sparking a dream of retiring comfortably together in an exotic locale. They both eventually resign from their agencies in hopes of staging a corporate swindle that can net them a handsome retirement package. The plan: both will take jobs as corporate spies for opposing bath product companies, sharing vital information with each other. They target Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and Richard Garsick (Paul Giamatti), bitter corporate rivals who are racing each other for a top secret formula that holds the secret to the ultimate shampoo product. Ray and Claire plan on using their resources to find the formula first and sell it to European buyers.

There’s one big problem, however, that poses a considerable threat to their elaborate plan: Ray and Claire have major trust issues. On their first meeting, Claire drugged Ray into a deep sleep in order to steal Egyptian Weapon codes from his belongings. Claire claims she really cares for Ray and was just doing her job, but Ray has his reservations. Both are such sly and cunning agents with a talent for deception that an aura of distrust constantly haunts their relationship. They consistently wonder if their counterpart has the audacity to swindle them for their own personal gain (Ray hilariously notes, “this sucks!”). Can Ray and Claire stay true to each other and pull off their plan together? Will they ever be able to switch off their agent mentality and be a normal couple?

This has to be my favorite kind of cinematic territory: when big-time movie stars show off classy glamour in a clever plot that allows them to be both stylish and witty. Indeed, Owen and Roberts play on the screen like Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn used to do in the old days. It’s a style I welcome with open arms and a big smile. It’s pretty remarkable that after all of these years, Roberts can still dish out that high-wattage mix of sass and sexiness just like she could in her younger years, a mix that fits perfectly with the role of Claire. I once wrote that Clive Owen is “arguably the coolest man alive” and this film only strengthens that theory (there's even a scene where Ray's co-workers analyze his coolness to his face). He can rock a suit and smoldering charm almost as good as Cary Grant yet he possesses an aura of danger that’s entirely his own. His deadpan reaction after being caught stealing a secret formula is priceless.

I found myself fascinated with the film’s exploration of inter-corporate espionage, where big-time companies use innovative technology and elaborate sneakiness to pry into the competition. Some of these tactics include tapping into the rival’s copy machines, keeping tabs on their internet porn intake, and even sleeping with travel agents. This all may seem too “James Bond” to take place in the real world, but in these times of shameless CEOs trying to cop bonuses for themselves, I’m convinced that such conniving mechanisms of corporate business actually does take place. Duplicity was written and directed by Tony Gilroy, whose last film, Michael Clayton, knew a lot about shady corporate dealings and the moral vacuum that haunts it. While that film was interested in the moral tragedies of such a world, Duplicity uses it to display clever plot twists and snappy dialogue.

Get ready for plot twists of the mind-bending kind in this film. Flashbacks and revelations make us aware that nothing is what it seems. Even nothing by itself is not what it seems! As the twists keep coming and the plot keeps peeling off, you won’t believe how far back this one peels! I’ll try not to reveal too much, only to say that I’m in awe of how far certain characters go in order to achieve a rather clever business strategy. For some viewers, suspension of disbelief will be snapped in half, but I can probably believe that in some circles of the corporate world, people actually attempt the elaborate lengths of deception these characters go to. I also found great humor in the bittersweet irony the final plot twist leaves for the main characters.

There are certain detractors who accuse this movie of just being a commercial excuse for movie stars to look suave and revel in Hollywood slickness. To those people I ask, what’s the problem? In an era hung up on realism, people forget the earlier times where people went to the movies to live vicariously through super cool glamour gods. I’ve always preferred movies that show things we dream to be as opposed to the way things are. You can do a lot worse than Owen and Roberts going old school in an exotic locale.