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Every good spy movie needs to have three key elements: sexy stars, lots of techie toys, and a couple of clever plot twists. “Duplicity” has all three, making it the perfect movie for those Friday nights when just want to relax, be captivated by some good-looking actors, and not think about much. The movie’s writer and director, Tony Gilroy, really knows how to give the audience what they want—lots of chemistry charged scenes with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen and enough changes in location and new surprises to make two hours of film feel like ten minutes.

The movie starts out in Dubai where spies Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) and Ray Koval (Clive Owen) meet at a Fourth of July party and have a one-night stand. It’s a typical ex-pat looking-for-love scenario until Claire drugs Ray and steals the secret codes in his suitcase—a fitting start to a spy love story.

The movie then switches to the present day and we see that Claire and Ray are both involved in corporate espionage. We think they are working on opposite sides in a feud between two cosmetics companies. The heads of the two companies hate each other—probably because they are so alike in their greed and overestimation of self-worth—and their personal rivalry plays out with the urgency and importance of a state-sponsored anti-terrorist mission.

Meanwhile, we learn that Claire and Ray have actually been engaging in a steamy, secret, multi-continental affair since Ray first confronted Claire in Rome a few years after their affair in Dubai. They both agree that they want to use their spy talents to make big money, which means taking advantage of their corporate clients. But, as their plan takes shape, they must also learn that as partners in crime and in bed, they need to trust each other to survive.

Both the espionage plot and the Claire and Ray love story get more and more complicated as allegiances shift and sticky situations arise. The movie really doesn’t throw you many bones and up until the very end you have no idea which CEO has come out on top, which CEO any of the spies actually works for, and whether or not Claire and Ray will make it big and survive as a couple.

Even though the story is clever, if not a little overcomplicated, it is the acting that ups the entertainment factor. Roberts and Owen are fine as romantic leads but Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti really shine as the narcissistic and avaricious CEOs. Giamatti is pure comic force while Wilkinson tinges his performance with a sense of irony—most notably in his monologue about the new evolution being survival of the fittest corporation.

“Duplicity” is not going to change your life forever and, even though the movie is shot in a subtly aesthetically pleasing way, it’s no “Citizen Kane”. Yet it’s fun, sexy, and it will play you for the dupe. What more can you really ask for in a spy film?

Written by: Alexia Nader

Reviewers Rating: 7
Reader's Rating: 7.00
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