Duets (2000)
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20% of critics liked it
(89 reviews) -
43% of users liked it
(10,446 ratings)
Director Bruce Paltrow teams with his Oscar-winning daughter Gwyneth Paltrow for this road comedy with music. Paltrow plays Liv, a struggling professional singer whose meets her father, Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis), for the first time at the funeral of her mother. As it turns out, both Liv and Ricky… More Director Bruce Paltrow teams with his Oscar-winning daughter Gwyneth Paltrow for this road comedy with music. Paltrow plays Liv, a struggling professional singer whose meets her father, Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis), for the first time at the funeral of her mother. As it turns out, both Liv and Ricky supplement the income from few-and-far-between gigs by singing in karaoke contests, and soon father and daughter are competing on the same circuit. Meanwhile, Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti), a salesman who has grown disenchanted with his job, his family, and his life, picks up a hitch-hiker named Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher), and during a stop at a tavern, they discover they make a good duet team while belting out a version of "Try A Little Tenderness." And waitress Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello) sweet talks Billy (Scott Speedman), a cabbie, into driving her to Omaha, where the national karaoke finals will determine who does the best job of singing along with the records, as the lives of these six characters begin to intersect. Duets also features Angie Dickinson as Blair, Liv's grandmother who was once a showgirl in Frank Sinatra's Las Vegas floorshow; Brad Pitt was originally cast in Speedman's role but withdrew after he and Paltrow announced the end of their off-camera relationship. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Directed By
- Bruce Paltrow
- Written By
- John Byrum
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Sep 15, 2000 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Jay Carr, Boston Globe
The press notes say the director spent five years developing Duets. He should have developed it more.
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Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Substitute 'bland' for 'blonde' and you've got a pretty good description of [Paltrow's] movie.
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M. Faust, Common Sense Media
A not very good adult movie about adult issues.
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Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Duets" is a frustratingly mediocre road movie that connects three unlikely pairs of people in the much maligned phenomenon of Karaoke singing as a metaphor for "finding the meaning of life" by sharing their interpretations of pop songs.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
And the director's Oscar-winning daughter? Never did I ever think she could ever be so annoying.
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Cast
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Maria Bello
as Suzi Loomis
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Andre Braugher
as Reggie Kane
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Paul Giamatti
as Todd Woods
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Huey Lewis
as Ricky Dean
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Gwyneth Paltrow
as Liv
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Scott Speedman
as Billy
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Marian Seldes
as Harriet Gahagan
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Kiersten Warren
as Candy Woods
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Angie Phillips
as Arlene
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Angie Dickinson
as Blair
- Lochlyn Munro