Movie Review: Duplicity - Like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, B...
Movie Review: Duplicity - Like Mr. & Mrs. Smith, But With a Brain
Posted by
Petes1234567
276 days ago
In D.T. Max’s fantastic New Yorker profile on writer/director Tony Gilroy (which you should read only after you’ve seen Duplicity), Max describes how Gilroy is obsessed with the “reversal.” According to Gilroy, “A reversal is just anything that’s a surprise. It’s a way of keeping the audience interested.” As moviegoers, we’ve seen reversals plenty of times; often we’re shown something on screen, then shown the same thing again later in a completely different context, where each of element carries a drastically different significance. Movies like Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Confidence, Ocean’s 11, and even Gilroy’s own Michael Clayton traffic heavily in these moments, and I see them as somewhat of a blessing and a curse. While reversals can make a second-viewing of the film equally enjoyable as the first, I quickly encounter the law of diminishing returns upon subsequent viewings, since by the fifth or sixth time I’ve seen the film, I already understand most of its mysteries. Movies with major reversals are structured in order to maximize the impact of the reversal, so they inevitably lose some of their effectiveness after that element has been revealed.
That being said, those first viewings are an absolute delight. Just as the characters in the film are trying to stay one step ahead of each other, you, the moviegoer, are constantly trying to figure out exactly what each character’s motivations are and whether or not you can really trust the depiction of events on screen. Gilroy’s latest film, Duplicity, is positioned as a corporate espionage thriller with a few double and triple-crosses sprinkled in for good measure, and it thoroughly delivers on this promise. It’s an absolute blast and shows Gilroy at the top of his form, deceiving the audience just as often as the characters in the film are deceiving each other.
That being said, those first viewings are an absolute delight. Just as the characters in the film are trying to stay one step ahead of each other, you, the moviegoer, are constantly trying to figure out exactly what each character’s motivations are and whether or not you can really trust the depiction of events on screen. Gilroy’s latest film, Duplicity, is positioned as a corporate espionage thriller with a few double and triple-crosses sprinkled in for good measure, and it thoroughly delivers on this promise. It’s an absolute blast and shows Gilroy at the top of his form, deceiving the audience just as often as the characters in the film are deceiving each other.
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