roberts, owen, pawned!

the scene that strikes me most is not the fluid sparring of lines between julia roberts and clive owen keeping their poker faces to study each other’s motives and actions, but that scene where owen and roberts are seated like the king and the queen of an empty palace, only minutes after realizing that they were outsmarted and used by the guys whom they think they manipulated the whole time.

i love how the pair concluded their fate with “at least i have you” as the camera zooms out in slow motion.

although ms roberts’ charm is as dim as most of the night lights in the movie, her curvier figure, her mona lisa smile, and her julia roberts face still provide ample light to brighten up the movie. clive owen
compliments ms roberts’ presence on screen not far from their compatibility in the movie closer.

an appropriate alternative title for duplicity is complexity. the non-linear timeline of the film, occasionally jumping from the future back to the past then forward to the present then back to the future, could defamiliarize the audience expecting the usual twists of a spy thriller or a romantic comedy flick. the plot is not that hard to follow. roberts and owen, two corporate spies working for rival companies, conspired to play as double agents , as spies working in all sides in order to get the formula for a medical breakthrough that could make them a couple of million dollars richer. the time jumps make it appear as if things are working well as planned, but fate is a bitch. on the last 20 minutes run of the reel, the film will try to juxtapose the scattered pieces of the story and drop the huge water balloon of revelations down the floor with a loud splat. it was quick, it was messy, and at the end, it all seems like a big joke (not an effective joke though).