Duplicity (***½)

Directed by: Tony Gilroy
Starring: Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti
Seen: May 29th 2009

***½ Out of ****

Tony Gilroy delighted and confused moviegoers with Michael Clayton two years ago. He’s back with more of the same in Duplicity. But Duplicity also offers more, since Michael Clayton did not have romantic anywhere in its description. Clive Owen is Ray Koval, a retired MI6 agent, while Julia Roberts is Claire Stenwick, a retired CIA agent. Both now work for the intelligence and counter-intelligence departments of big corporations, Koval at Equikrom, Stenwick at Burkett & Randle. And the two decide to band together to procure themselves some extra funds.

The two companies’ CEO’s, Howard Tully (Wilkinson) from Burkett & Randle and Richard Garsick (Giamatti) from Equikrom are archenemies. They cannot stand the sight of each other and this is attested to in a hilarious fight between the two at the start of the film, these two won’t be able to fight their way out of a wet paper bag, but tat doesn’t stop them here.

Tony Gilroy shows the world that we do not need the cold war to have effective and engaging spy films, as the corporate arena is rife with opportunities for the gathering and trade in intelligence. The film has twist after twist after twist, and you have to keep a close watch on things to ensure that the end does not leave you bewildered and clueless. But should you keep up, which is not all that difficult, you will be richly rewarded by a great story.

Owen and Roberts play off each other very well, and the trust angle is greatly utilised in the film. Trying to guess who’s playing who becomes an intriguing part of watching the film. They live by the credo, as seen on the film’s website: Deny Everything, Make Counteraccusations, Admit Nothing. Claire, in a closer moment with Ray, tells him to admit that he doesn’t trust her either, and this is just one of many points in the film where the viewer cannot possibly know who to trust or who to believe or in which exact way the story is going. One thing that you can trust is that Tony Gilroy can make a good and entertaining movie that will keep you enthralled and guessing and even slightly cheated (but in a good way) right up to the final revelations.