Duplicity 2009

Ben Mankiewicz, At the Movies: Gilroy keeps it all moving at a steady, stylish pace. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Duplicity is more lighthearted; it's the Pitt/Jolie smackdown Mr. & Mrs. Smith without all the gunplay. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: It's a passably amusing brainteaser. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Should settle on the video shelf between Intolerable Cruelty and Mr & Mrs. Smith. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Duplicity is betrayed by a surfeit of intricacy. Its ironic complexities tease the brain without pleasing the heart. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Watching Duplicity brings pleasures all too rare: gorgeous actors speaking smart, funny dialogue in beautiful settings. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: For a sexy comedy that tries and fails to recapture the sensual smarts of vintage screwball fare, Duplicity is regrettably short on sex and comedy. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: It eventually falls victim to one or two twists too many, needlessly complicating an already complex plot. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: This movie is a breeze compared to the lawyerly Sturm und Drang of Michael Clayton. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Everything in Duplicity may be a scam, but [director] Gilroy's talent is the real thing. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: A snazzy piece of work, tartly acted and cleverly made. Trust me. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: For all the glam and swank, the film is essentially a bright, shiny, empty puzzle. The puzzlemaking by writer-director Tony Gilroy is clever but most frequently an end in itself. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: At times, Gilroy's leaps verge on gimmick. But the shuffled deck of place and time is intrinsic to the three-card monte rhythms. He keeps us guessing, even as we know he's gaming us. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Duplicity, like all con movies, relies on charm, and there's plenty to go around. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Duplicity doesn't have depth -- but it does have Julia Roberts, in full Hollywood movie-star mode. And for filmgoers with scaled-back expectations, that news may be enough. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: Comedy seems to have liberated Gilroy, who directs Duplicity with the high gloss and fleet-footed hustle of a Golden Age Hollywood craftsman. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Duplicity isn't quite as clever as it wants to be, but it's diverting and funny, and it's always a pleasure to watch a movie that relies on brains as fodder instead of brawn. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Though it waltzes through European capitals and gorgeous hotel suites, it never quite gets the blood pumping. And despite all the husky-voiced pillow-talk about sex and adrenaline, there's little of either. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Duplicity is an enormously enjoyable hybrid, a romantic comedy set at the center of a caper movie. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: There's a lot of doubling going on in the smart, savvy Duplicity. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: This is a sharp-looking movie with a blue-chip cast. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Slick, super-contrived, pretty to look at and totally, completely preposterous. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Mr. Gilroy has outsmarted himself by pulling too many switches in his narrative. He then fails to recover by coming up with a smash ending that pulls all the scattered pieces together. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Director Tony Gilroy deftly mixes comedy with suspense as we see the extreme measures corporations take to steal one another's secrets and protect their own from theft. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Aiming for a romantic-caper vibe, Duplicity zips from one elaborate piece of hugger-mugger to the next. But at a certain point, boredom sets in. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: When it comes to spy thrillers, Tony Gilroy knows the game. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Julia Roberts in a luxury hotel room, bantering with a suave leading man? That works. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Duplicity is entertaining, but the complexities of its plot keep it from being really involving. The fun is in watching Roberts and Owen fencing with dialogue, keeping straight faces, trying to read each other's minds. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Gilroy and his stars make it elegant fun to be fooled, but they sure as hell make you work for it. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: I started out loving Duplicity; by the end, I wanted to strangle it. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: As a caper film, Duplicity is a fizzle. As a mystery, it's a cheat. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Duplicity plays as a less-successful comic remake of Michael Clayton. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Gilroy expertly keeps viewers guessing about who is gaming who. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Duplicity may be too smart for its own good. But how many films can you say that about? Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: A light/bright movie that actually illuminates our dull grey lives, reminding us that intrigue can be, well, intriguing. And damn sexy too. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: [Director Gilroy's] determined to put some smarts into the world of double crosses and double martinis, and bless him for that. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Duplicity does indeed bend and buckle under the weight of many a final-reel revelation, though it never entirely collapses. Read more

Christopher Orr, The New Republic: Like the carnal encounter with which it opens, it's a film that goes through the motions, and while those motions are frequently pleasurable, we, like Owen, are ultimately left disappointed. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: With its smart writing delivered by an in-synch quartet, savor Duplicity as the ideal spring gift. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Smart, droll and dazzling to look at and listen to, writer-director Tony Gilroy's effervescent, intricately plotted puzzler proves in every way superior to his 2007 success Michael Clayton. Read more

Dan Kois, Washington Post: A pleasant big-studio diversion, a screwball romance with beautiful movie stars set in gorgeous hotel rooms, deluxe office spaces and corporate jets. It's smart, it's for grown-ups and it lets Julia Roberts laugh, if just once. Read more