DVD Review: Duplicity

Watching Duplicity one cannot help but be struck by the onscreen chemistry of its two stars. We know, of course, that Julia Roberts and Clive Owen are just acting. What is unique about the film, though, is that it forces us to wonder whether their characters aren't just acting, too.

The film flashes forward and back in time, revealing aspects of its characters' past, only to return to scenes later and ask us to reevaluate what we have seen. Roberts and Owen play spies with a history. After having left their respective agencies in favor of the private sector, they meet again and are forced to work together as part of an elite corporate espionage plot. Are they enemies destined to clash, co-conspirators in their own game, or two individuals out to play one another? We can never be sure.

The film aspires to be both a great spy film and a great romance. The result is romance between its stars of which neither the lovers nor the audience can be completely certain. This could easily grow frustrating, but it does not. Instead, it adds an extra spin to moments of steaminess and suspense alike.

I think you'll live Duplicity if you like:

The Sting (1973)

This mother of all con stories reunites two of the greatest stars in the history of American cinema, Paul Newman and Robert Redford, after their first pairing in 1969's Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid. Newman plays a seasoned con artist who brings the younger Redford under his wing and into his scheming. The Sting fulfills the cardinal rule of con films in that it manages to take us along for the ride while duping us all along.

Ocean's 11 (2001)

Steven Soderbergh's remake of the Rat Pack classic manages to be a solid con story and a genuinely fun film. George Clooney (I'm told he's vaguely attractive.) stars as Danny Ocean, an ex-con who puts together a crack team of criminals to take down a Vegas casino and, while he's at it, when back his ex-wife (Julia Roberts). The film sings with chemistry, both between Clooney and Roberts and the team of cons. Once again, the film brings the audience in on the deception, while misleading us for much of its climax.

Out of Sight (1998)

This first collaboration of the aforementioned Clooney and Soderbergh pulls off the greatest scam in film history, making like Jennifer Lopez...for all 123 minutes of it. In truth, this is less of a con film than The Sting or Ocean's. What it has in common with Duplicity, however, is a relationship between its stars that is built as much on hidden agendas as it is on attraction.

The screenplay by Scott Frank is adapted from the novel by one of my personal heroes, Elmore Leonard. Leonard's quick wit and sharp dialogue is evident in the final product, and, like his fiction, the film sports an amazing cast of side characters. This is a really fun movie. I'm not conning you.

DVD Review: Adventureland

Last night I watched Adventureland, and I found myself surprised on many levels. This was not the film expected, but it was hugely enjoyable.

Studios usually market the movie they wish they had made. I think this must have been the case with Adventureland, an intelligent coming of age story that was marketed as yet another teen sex comedy. Director Greg Mottola gave us Superbad, a teen sex comedy that took raunchiness to new and hysterical heights

For starters, few of the film's characters appear to actually be teens. Most of them are either college students or graduates. Unlike the characters in Superbad, they are far less concerned with scoring booze and getting laid than they are with making real connections.

The film's protagonist James has just graduated from college and has taken a summer job at the local amusement park to help pay for Columbia graduate school. He is awkward in a way that feels completely honest. He doesn't stutter and make a fool out of himself. Instead, he tends to be overly honest and quick to share.

The object of his affection is Emily, a co-worker at the park to whom he is immediately drawn. He's beautiful, but he cannot seem to read her. He is never sure when he is supposed to talk and when he is supposed to be quiet. God, I wish I related less to this guy.

The screenwriter makes a very interesting and somewhat risky choice to give us more information about Emily than James has. The result is that we watch the moments between them feeling more awkward for his ignorance. We feel for this guy. We worry for his heart.

The film is strengthened by some very strong performances from each of its young actors. Martin Starr, the nasally nerd of Freaks & Geeks fame, steals many scenes as Joel, a jaded senior games operator at the amusement park who knows every one's secrets. Ryan Reynolds (He's so hot right now!) plays away type as the unemotional maintenance worker that the other employees all seem to idolize. He claims to have jammed with Lou Reed but only seems to tell the story when there are girls around.

Adventureland is a great portrait of the last days before a young person becomes an actual adult. It's about that last summer of living at home. It's about the time you stop having crushes and start to appreciate what the L-work really means. It's about the moment that you go from studying to be someone and suddenly being asked to actually be that person.

I think you'll like Adventureland if you like:

Dazed and Confused (1993)
Richard Linklater's hang out masterpiece is a brilliant portrait of a night in the lives of a group of high school students. I contend that the film is actually populated entirely by kids I actually knew growing up. Not really, but it sure feels that way.

Watching this movie every few years feels like going to a reunion, only I look forward to it and don't feel the need to lose weight and lie about my job. If you haven't seen it, rent it today.

The Breakfast Club (1985)
This John Hughes classic is an icon of 80's cinema. Five high schoolers forced to spend a Saturday in detention. Locked in the school library, they break through the pigeonholes forced on them and discover more about who they each are.

The film crafts deceptively complex characters from seemingly two-dimensional clichés. Sure, you know all the lines, but somehow they still make you laugh every time.

American Graffiti (1973)
Like Adventureland, George Lucus's story centers on a young characters facing the precipice of adult life. This is the last night of their summer, and tomorrow, in one way or another, each of their lives will be different.

The story strikes a perfect balance between being funny and being completely true to its characters. There are a lot of great laughs, but they are intermingled with moments of real weight and substance.

You'll love Oldboy if...

Oldboy (2003)
I watched this film over the weekend and it has been cycling through my cerebral cortex ever sense. This South Korean revenge tale won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003. Oldboy tells the story of an everyday man who is kidnapped and kept in a strange apartment prison for 15 years, only to be suddenly released to find that his wife has died and his daughter has been shipped away to Sweden.

All he wants is to learn the truth about who was responsible for his imprisonment and why. Then, he'll have his vengeance. Fast-moving and, at times, brutal, this story takes you places you never thought you would go. I highly recommend it.

I know you'll love Oldboy if you liked:

Payback (1999)
Porter is a criminal, but even criminals have a code. Betrayed and left for dead by his best friend and ex-wife, Porter survives with just one thing on his mind, payback...and his share of the loot. His road to revenge will reunite him with old friends and enemies.

This is easily one of Gibson's darkest roles. He is quick to anger and doesn't hesitate to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Unfortunately, he is dealing with equally brutal men. Bonus points: check out the director's cut.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
An innocent man is sent away on false accusations. He returns years later, to learn that his wife has been killed, and his daughter has been adopted by the man responsible. Aided by his landlady, he establishes a barbershop as the front for his bloody campaign of revenge.

This is a dark and violent story about the emptiness of revenge and the loss of a man's soul. Still, its black comedy makes it somehow an enjoyable viewing.

Memento (2000)
After my first few weeks of film school at the University of Texas, I became frustrated. We'd been shown so many of the great films, and I found feeling that every story had already been told. Surely there were no new ideas left for us to try.

A few weeks later I saw Memento in the Dobie Theater, and it shut me right up. This is one of the most original films I have ever seen. It takes a familiar revenge story and turns it...no, slams it on its head.

Memento tells the story of a man named Leonard who survives a home invasion in which his wife died but is left with a brain injury that prevents him from creating new long-term memories. This essentially means that every few minutes, his mind resets. He suddenly does not recognize the people he is talking to. Nor does he know where he is or what he is doing. How, with such a great impediment, can he possibly track down his wife's killer? His answer: with the aid of some amazing tattoos, he turns his body into a road map of revenge. Along with Polaroids and handwritten notes, he uses the tattoos to remind himself who he is and what his mission is.

The story is made insanely engaging by its rejection of traditional chronology. The story is told from the outside in, moving simultaneously forward from its beginning and backwards from its end, to leave the audience almost as confused as its protagonist. I adore this film and cannot recommend it enough.

If you love Roman Holiday...

Roman Holiday set Audrey Hepburn's career into orbit. It shares the story of a princess who, while on a tour of Europe, wanders away from her quarters in Rome and is taken in by an American reporter (Gregory Peck). When he discovers her identity, Peck keeps his profession a secret in hopes of the story of a lifetime. Slowly, a romance develops between the two that tests the loyalties of each.


If you love Roman Holiday, you'll probably love:

Possession (2002)
Two literary scholars discover a previously undocumented romance between the two rival Victorian poets they have each been studying. This discovery leads them on a journey to uncover the truth.

If a detective story about an affair between two Victorian poets doesn't sound too exciting, I can't blame you. But this film manages to be completely engaging and whole-heartedly romantic in a way that few modern romances do.

Before Sunrise(1995)
Two strangers make a connection aboard a train moving through Europe. Realizing that they are each headed in different directions in a matter of hours, they decide to spend the day walking through Vienna. The question: can the love of your life last only one day?

Rarely has a screen romance been more honest. If you like this film, it's sequel Before Sunset is the rare case of a follow-up surpassing its predecessor.

Amelie (2001)
Like Hepburn's princess, Amelie is a young woman who has lived a very sheltered existence. Much of her life is spent immersed in whimsical fantasy. After devoting herself to bringing happiness to those around her, she noticing a young man who might just be as quirky as her.

This French film is the biggest stretch on the list. If you are intimidated by subtitles, it may not be for you. I pity you because you are missing out on a magical little film.