Duplicity
2009
**
Director: Tony Gilroy
Cast: Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Denis O'Hare, Kathleen Chalfant, Thomas McCarthy, Wayne Duvall, Carrie Preston
When a major cosmetics manufacturer announces a groundbreaking new product, its fiercest rival is prepared to do anything to get in on the secret. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen play former government agents who now work as corporate counterintelligence specialists for the two competing companies. The jumbled narrative reveals the complicated nature of their personal and professional relationship. As it turns out, these two people are selfish and unpleasant, and their liaison is rather uninteresting. And what's more, the two stars have no chemistry whatsoever; Roberts is simply miscast. The film itself is a listless and mechanical sleight of hand with an oh-so ironic ending.
