Duplicity

Theatrical Release Date: 2009 03 10 (USA) / 2009 03 20 (USA)

UPC: 025195046152

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG13   Contains:[Profanity, Sexual Situations]

Summary: Closer co-stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen reunite for Oscar-nominated director Tony Gilroy's drama tracing the illicit love affair between two spies-turned-corporate operatives. The Cold War has thawed, and for CIA agents seeking to make an easy mint, the real money is in multinational corporations. CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and Ray Koval (Owen) are both racing to secure the formula for a product that will bring untold wealth to the company that lands the patent first as the stakes begin to rise, and their passions start to flare. Meanwhile, their mutual employers, industry giant Howerd Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and trailblazing CEO Dick Garsil (Paul Giamatti) start resorting to some seriously underhanded tactics in hope of gaining an advantage over the competition. Loners by definition of their own careers, Claire and Ray engage in a series of schemes and double-crosses while contending with the fact that their mutual attraction could ultimately jeopardize their entire missions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Spy Film

Awards: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Tony Gilroy & Editor/Co-Producer John Gilroy

Duplicity

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 08/25/2009

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 2.40:1

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DHMA null, DTS-ES Digital Theater Systems

Runtime: 120 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Perry Seibert

If you know your con-game movies, then you're familiar with the differences between short cons and long cons. The short con is all about making a quick buck -- like getting a bartender to give you change for a 20, when you really paid with a 10. Long cons, on the other hand, require months, if not years, of setup, and come with a payoff to match. They also make for timeless movies like The Sting, The Grifters, House of Games, and Tony Gilroy's Duplicity. Like those other time-tested con movies, Duplicity is about more than just lying, deceit, and trickery -- the story's mind games also serve as a metaphor for bigger issues -- in this case, love. In the opening scene, Ray Koval (Clive Owen) seduces Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) at a cocktail party thrown by the government of Dubai. Their passionate night together ends with him drugged, and her taking pictures of some sensitive documents in his possession -- and thus begins a most unusual courtship between people who inherently mistrust everyone around them. It would be just plain wrong to reveal much more about the plot, but years later, the two end up on opposite sides of some serious corporate espionage, and their time together in the past has more of an effect on their present than anyone -- the characters or the audience -- really understands. Tony Gilroy proved that he could fashion an airtight thriller with Michael Clayton, and he's done it again here. The complex plot never confuses viewers -- you always know where you are in the story. And even if, at a given moment, you don't know why characters are having the same word-for-word conversation in totally different times and places, you can trust it will all make sense in the end. In addition to creating a brain-twisting thriller full of double agents and triple crosses, Gilroy also makes Duplicity a credible romantic comedy at the same time thanks to dialogue that sparkles with humor -- the kind of dialogue actors kill to say. Clive Owen knows how to deliver a laugh line, and he gets more than his fair share of them, but it's his ability to charm his victims -- he makes it seem like it's fun to be lied to -- that makes him ideally suited for the part. And while we're on the subject of charm, Julia Roberts can still flash that 1,000-watt smile, but she's also grown into a more confident actress, able to play cold and calculating just as effortlessly as she can warm and charming. Together, they make a smart and sexy pair, entirely different from their battling lovers in Closer. While Owen and Roberts may anchor the movie, the whole cast gets to have fun, especially Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti as feuding corporate CEOs. Their first confrontation makes for a hysterically funny opening credit sequence. Wilkinson gives his business tycoon a know-it-all smugness that conflicts hilariously with Giamatti's paranoid and angry character -- he's half Gordon Gekko and half Donald Duck. And Carrie Preston steals her few scenes as a corporate travel planner who falls for all of Ray's considerable charms. But, however strong the acting is, Tony Gilroy deserves the lion's share of credit for making such a delightful movie. His writing and direction find the perfect balance of comedy, sexiness, and tension. The con-game elements may drive the story, but it's the romantic comedy that gives Duplicity heart and soul. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Jennifer Fox  Producer 
James Newton Howard  Composer (Music Score) 
Kerry Orent  Producer 
Tony Gilroy  Director 
Tony Gilroy  Screenwriter 
Laura Bickford  Producer 
Ryan Kavanaugh  Executive Producer 
Julia Roberts  Actor 
Clive Owen  Actor 
Tom Wilkinson  Actor 
Paul Giamatti  Actor 
Dan Daily  Actor 
Lisa Roberts Gillan  Actor 
David Shumbris  Actor 
Rick Worthy  Actor 
Oleg Stefan  Actor 
Denis O'Hare  Actor 
Kathleen Chalfant  Actor 
Khan Baykal  Actor 
Tom McCarthy  Actor 
Wayne Duvall  Actor 
Fabrizio Brienza  Actor 
Lucia Grillo  Actor 
Carrie Preston  Actor 
Conan McCarty  Actor 
Kirby Mitchell  Actor 
Christopher Denham  Actor 
Christopher Mann  Actor 

Country: USA