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Sexy:
Owen and Roberts in Duplicity. |
No
Fools
By
Laura Leon
Duplicity
Directed
by Tony Gilroy
Who knew that Julia Roberts, once so gawky and coltish and
annoyingly giddy, could morph into an accomplished, sexy performer,
becoming along the lines of this century’s Sophia Loren? In
Duplicity, gone—thankfully—are all the former mannerisms
that distracted one from noticing that Roberts wasn’t so much
acting a role as desperately trying to convince the audience
that their adoration was justified. In their place is a gloriously
accomplished and assured comedic actress who gives Clive Owen’s
M16 agent Ray Koval a run for his money, and viewers a legitimate
reason to applaud.
Written and directed by Michael Clayton’s Tony Gilroy,
Duplicity is a romance-within-a-caper movie, in which
the old-style Cold War adversaries and geopolitical master
games of the past have given way to where the action’s at
today: in corporate boardrooms and shareholder meetings gussied
up like the grandest theater. Rival CEOs Howard Tully (Tom
Wilkinson) of Burkett & Randall and Dick Garsick (Paul
Giamatti) of Equikrom hate each other’s guts, as it made wickedly
clear in an early, super-slow motion scene in which the pair
duke it out on an airport tarmac as their gray- flannelled
minions stare in astonishment and horror. We never find out
just what happened to cause these two to come to blows, but
whatever, you just know that it’s enough to bring their very
real corporate rivalry into the blood-boiling stages of historical
warfare. Or a Red Sox-Yankee gang war.
When first we encounter Claire Stenwick (Roberts), she’s a
CIA agent at work in Dubai who is chatted up by an assured
Ray. Before too long, their incendiary verbal sparks give
way to a night of lust, from which Ray awakens with a splitting
headache and a missing briefcase. Years later, they are employed,
respectively, by Burkett & Randall and Equikrom—only they’re
not. See, this being a caper, they, and a few others, are
actually both employed by Dick, who is trying to infiltrate
Howard’s latest next big thing, but beyond that, they’re really
working an angle of their own.
Sound confusing? It can be, especially as Gilroy makes playful
use of his storytelling ability—aided considerably by brother
John’s masterful editing—of going back and forth in time,
so that we’re never quite sure what Ray and, in particular,
Claire, are up to, or how it affects the Equikrom scenario.
Claire brilliantly manipulates Ray, literally tying him in
emotional knots before revealing that she was only joking
and basically ensuring that he’s always several steps behind
her. There’s a singularly funny scene in which Claire, visiting
a lonely Ray in Cleveland, accuses him of cheating on her,
offering as proof a thong on the end of her finger. Ray begs
her, almost at the point of tears, to believe that he’s been
true, whereupon she finally gives him a thumbs up for veracity
and returns the thong to its proper place, that being her
own derriere. The banter between Owens and Roberts is blistering
and delicious, and adds immeasurably to the zing reverberating
throughout this movie.
In addition to its two stellar leads, Duplicity benefits
from an outstanding supporting cast, most notably the wily
Wilkinson and the wonderfully paranoid Giamatti, but also
from lesser-known players like Kathleen Chalfant and Rick
Worthy as participants in the scam. Sure, at times it’s disconcerting
to wonder where we’re actually at in this particular point
of the puzzle, but it’s best to just sit and let it wash over
you, as the final trump is well worth it. Duplicity
magnificently conveys all it sets out to, so whether you’re
in for the mystery and suspense or prefer the palpable romance,
it just works. After a few months of dismal listings at the
local multiplex, this one is well worth the wait.
Temporary
Insanity
Two
Lovers
Directed
by James Gray
A husky man carrying dry cleaning nimbly straddles the railing
of a bridge over a frosty river. Seconds later, he hops into
the wet abyss, an almost balletic leap that belies everything
else about the scene: the size and hulk of the man, the bulk
of his parka, the splintery wood of the bridge, the dry cleaning.
Before long, the man—Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix)—thinks better
of his idea and, with the help of some onlookers whom he doesn’t
bother to thank, lurches back to the atmosphere and walks
home. Mom (Isabella Rossellini) and Dad (Moni Moshonov) pretend
to buy his story that he fell, but both know too well that
their bipolar boy has tried, again, to end it all. What’s
a Jewish mother to do, besides fuss about his wet clothes
and cooling dinner, but set up a blind date with the lovely
Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of Dad’s business associate.
Sandra is everything that a lonely and fragile guy like Leonard
needs. She’s loving and compassionate, and she wants to care
for him. He seems to like her back, that is, until he meets
the new neighbor, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), who looks about
at home in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, as a hothouse flower
on the fjords. She’s being kept by her married lover Ronald
(Elias Koteas), and soon after befriending Leonard, she asks
him to join them for dinner so that he can weigh in on whether
or not she really has a future. Michelle is one of those gorgeous
babes who collects besotted caretaker sorts who would sell
their soul for her, all the while never really understanding
the level of their interest. Then again, maybe she just takes
it for granted. Put simply, as good as Sandra is for Leonard,
Michelle is 10 times as bad, which of course means that Leonard
will do anything to be with her, even become almost a different
guy in her company. Generally ill at ease and nonverbal, Leonard
becomes more confident and even displays a quirky sense of
humor when he’s out with Michelle, but his innate decency
comes through as well, as he tenderly cares to her latest
crises and heartaches.
You know this isn’t going to end well, that there will be
casualties, but you can’t help watching, in large part because
of Phoenix’s soulful performance. (This is supposedly his
last role, as the actor has announced a veer into hip-hop,
while at the same time— shown in recent TV appearances—channeling
the style sense of the Unabomber.) Phoenix imbues Leonard
with enormous reserves of compassion, as well as an emotional
core rooted in insecurity and alienation. Director James Gray,
who cowrote the script (based on the Dostoyevsky story “White
Nights”) with Richard Menello, creates a landscape of cramped
apartments and tight spaces, and rituals of home life that
underscore Leonard being trapped in a sort of perpetual childhood.
It’s no wonder that Michelle is such a draw.
Late in the movie, as Mom begins to realize what Leonard is
up to, her looks of love and sadness at her son are heart-melting,
no more so than in the bittersweet conclusion. Leonard’s dream
of escape and passionate love meet a detour of sorts, and
his final actions can be read to indicate a return to sanity,
a recognition of certain unwavering realities. However, Gray
provides a little unsettling jolt, as the camera pans away
from a happy scene just enough to make us wonder what we’re
really seeing, and calls to mind the Turgenev lines with which
Dostoyevsky begins his story: “And was it his destined part/Only
one moment in his life/To be close to your heart?/Or was he
fated from the start/To live for just one fleeting instant,
within the purlieus of your heart.” In its quiet, almost old-fashioned
way, Two Lovers delivers a devastatingly intimate portrait
of loneliness and alienation, but also with the possibility
of redemption.
—Laura
Leon
 Slight
of Mind
The
Great Buck Howard
Directed
by Sean McGinly
What makes washed-up mentalist Buck Howard great is that he’s
played by the great John Malkovich. Who better to portray
a hypnotist (who may or may not be fraudulent) than the star
of Being John Malkovich? The feline-eyed actor is as
convincing putting people into trances onstage as you’d expect,
and he gives Howard’s dressing-room hissy fits an edge of
hard-earned entitlement (and dramatic flourish) that make
his every insult a small pleasure. And that’s what The
Great Buck Howard is about: the small pleasures to be
found in a modest movie (it’s written and directed by nobody
Sean McGinly). The film’s unassuming intentions, and droll,
naturally occurring sense of humor, are such that the funniest
moments are of the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it variety.
The film’s narrator, Troy (Colin Hanks, and yes, he’s the
son of Tom) is Howard’s new road manager and privy to Howard’s
secret ambition to stage a comeback stunt somewhere in Ohio.
“He was cheesy but had a timeless charm that audiences seemed
to love,” opines Troy in one of his unnecessary narrative
observations. Working with Howard is a job that Troy just
happened into after dropping out of law school, and his bland
character serves about the same purpose as a packet of saltines
with a bowl of chili con carne. Howard’s tour is covered by
a suspiciously subdued magazine reporter, and the press agent
he hired is replaced by a hedonistic underling (Emily Blunt)
who puts the moves on Troy seemingly out of boredom. Blunt,
the befuddled charmer from The Devil Wears Prada, isn’t
given enough to do, but her media-hipster character serves
as an effective foil for the proudly out-of-it Howard (when
told that an Internet reporter is waiting for an interview,
Howard says he’s never heard of that publication).
Howard’s road show, however, is entertaining in the same vein
as Na poleon Dynamite and other uncontrived character
studies set in niches not usually seen on the big screen.
A mid-level celebrity with more talent than the stars he crosses
paths and ripostes with (such as Tom Arnold), Howard sabotages
his own career just as often as he is thwarted by bad luck.
McGinly affectionately reveals the forgotten underbelly of
the entertainment industry—Howard is based on The Amazing
Kreskin—but what’s really amazing is how Malkovich steals
every scene before your very eyes.
—Ann
Morrow
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