At the Movies – Duplicity: The Deceitful Tony Gilroy

– By Mitch Silver –

“Duplicity”, written and directed by Tony Gilroy (“Michael Clayton”), stars Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. It ought to star Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, but sadly, they’re no longer available for stylish international caper flicks. As it is, two perfectly useful luminaries of the 21st century spend a couple of on-screen hours in New York, London, Paris, Rome, Miami and Cleveland (Cleveland!) trying to get us to think they’re smitten with each other. And each time we do, one or the other says or does something witty and clever to show us it ain’t so.

I nominate “Duplicity” for this year’s Most Disappointing Follow-Up Film, joining last year’s “Quantum of Solace” in that dubious category. With some familiar faces from “Michael Clayton” in Tom Wilkinson and Denis O’Hare, some real pros in Kathleen Chalfont and Paul Giamatti, (thank you, casting director Ellen Chenoweth) and his brother, John, handling the editing, Gilroy should have done better than this snarky pastiche that’s all shiny surfaces and no heart.

Claire Stenwick and Ray Koval are two ex-field agents for the American and British spy services who have traded in their silencers for corporate keycards. The entire movie has them playing Mad Magazine’s Spy vs. Spy with each other: she drugs him, he uses her, she blows his cover, he takes their getaway passport, and on and on and on. All the while they’re supposed to be crazy about each other.

Here’s where Audrey and Cary would have made all the difference. Hepburn at her sassiest (think “Breakfast at Tiffanys”) still had an underlying sweetness and warmth that made the audience love her. So when her leading man finally got around to realizing that he loved her too, we all but yelled at the screen, “What were you waiting for?”

Grant (think “North by Northwest”) might be taken by surprise, but he was never flustered, never not in control. Even the difference in their ages in “Charade” made no difference … these two were attracted to each other. When the script threw them into each other’s arms, it had the air of inevitability.

Unfortunately, Gilroy doesn’t let love interfere with the plot of “Duplicity”. And really, it’s pretty thin gruel: one conglomerate may or may not have gotten the jump on another conglomerate. Kicked off by a brawl between the warring CEOs (Wilkinson and Giamatti) on the tarmac at Teterboro, it’s all gotcha all the time. To make matters worse, Gilroy’s talented cinematographer, Robert Elswit (“There Will Be Blood”, “Syriana” and lots more) does Roberts no favors by photographing her in the same noir style as everything else. Add Albert Wolsky’s dowdy wardrobe and she looks, well, human. So why is Clive Owen still gaga over her when she’s done him dirt in all the major world capitals, as well as Cleveland?

Speaking of gaga, what did A. O. Scott and David Denby see in this flick, anyway? After 20 minutes, I was so bored with looking at my own watch, I started looking at other people’s.