I watched the DVD twice, and then a third time with the director's commentary, and still can't join all the pieces together.The basic story is clear enough, there are these two huge pharmaceutical companies in cut-throat competition to provide the consumer with such essentials as ... a new shampoo, a special car-wash, premium diapers, (you name it, they'll make it, and sell it), each has industrial spy employees with labels like "techintel" and "counterintel" and they get up to all sorts of devious activities to try and learn what the other is doing.Agents Ray (Clive Owen) and Claire (Julia Roberts) are at first on opposite sides, but later, they join together (socially as well as commercially!) to go for the corporate area.Duplicity is all over the place, they strive to get the secrets, but... how do they know they are not being duped themselves? They don't, and the viewers don't know either. Even the final revelations might be yet another piece of duplicity? The acting is great, but the confusion starts early with scenes that we are supposed to remember, and to know when they become relevant. ie, three years later... then 18 months ago, 14 months ago. Besides the two chief agents, there are back room analysts whose names and roles are a bit unclear. One particular scene involves CEO Garsik apparently talking to a double of himself, but only very briefly. Strange that this is not followed up?The support cast are really good, Carrie Preston, Tom Wilkinson, Kathleen Chalfant especially, and there are a few especially good scenes with good dialogue, but overall, it gets my rating of ..."could have been much better".

This One may be just a Notch too Clever and Complicated for its own Good as it Almost seems Apparent from the Get-Go that this is going to Alienate a lot of Leisurely Types that are Looking for some Breezy Entertainment to Kick-Back and Take a Break and Breathe Easily. Not a Chance.It is a Ramped Up and Rotated, Turned and Twisted, Back and Forth Film for Thinkers. it Challenges You Every Time it Flashes Back. it Makes You Pay Attention Every Time it Monologues. It Asks You to Listen Up and Stay Frosty. it can be Very Rewarding in the End but if You are not up to the Task, its going to Wear You Out and Put You through the Ringer.There are Laughs and Deadpan Delights with Two Movie Stars Backed Up with Two Leading Supporting Character Actors. So there is Clive Owen and Julia Roberts with Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti in Director/Writer Tony Gilroy's Snappy, Sizzling Rom-Com-Dram and it is All Done with Style and Glitz as it Makes Gleeful Fun out of those Corporate Types that are Very Serious about Shaving Cream and Toothpaste.

It is obvious that the big draw of this film was the two leading stars, I remember seeing a few clips and maybe a trailer so I was hoping the film itself would be somewhat good, from writer/director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, The Bourne Legacy). Basically Ray Koval (Clive Owen) works for MI6 and Claire Stenwick (Golden Globe nominated Julia Roberts) works for the CIA, five years ago they met in Dubai, but they are reacquainted in Grand Central in New York City, she pretends they have never met, until he says something and realises they were supposed to meet. They are now both working for corporate giants in industrial security, the CEOs, Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) of Burkett & Randle and Richard 'Dick' Garsik (Paul Giamatti) of Equikrom, they both hate each other, their rivalry have spawned both firms are competing for products, but it is questionable whether Ray sighting Claire was coincidental. One of the firms is going to announce in a week a revolutionary new product that will solve balding men and create new hair growth, so Ray and Claire put any differences to one side in an attempt to find an independent buyer, but the trust between them is not secure as they have their individual tricks, both using the rivalry to their advantage. But the double-crossing becomes increasingly difficult for both Ray and Claire, as the pair have a personal history, as seen through a few flashbacks, it starts with some flirtatious conversations between each other, and slowly it becomes intimate, they cannot help falling for each other once again, to the point it is almost distracting them from their duties with their respective companies. Also starring Thomas McCarthy as Jeff Bauer, Dan Daily as Garsik's Aide, David Shumbris as Turtleneck, Rick Worthy as Dale Raimes and Kathleen Chalfant as Pam Frailes. Roberts and Owen give relatively charming performances and just about believable as spies in love, Giamatti and Wilkinson definitely look like they are having fun playing the feuding employers, and I agree that this does feel a modern take on 1960's caper movies, like Ocean's Eleven does. Bits and pieces were snappy and made me giggle a little, but some of the editing, with scene changes and flashbacks, I found slowed it down, I found it a little confusing as well most of the time, I didn't know whether to pay attention to the love story of the company rivalry, I'm not sure it's my kind film but it was an alright romantic caper. Okay!

If there is such a thing like a film to smart to enjoy 'Duplicity' written and directed by Tony Gilroy would certainly qualify. It is not that scriptwriter Gilroy misses smart stories in his CV - he wrote the 'Bourne' series (based on Robert Ludlum's novels), 'Proof of Life' and 'Devil's Advocate'each of them smart. The problem with Duplicity is that he did not find a better director than Tony Gilroy to direct a script which has many surprises, hidden angles, flashbacks and twists but too few of them are being turn into moments of good cinema suspense or emotions.Duplicity is the story of two ex-spies (one CIA - Julia Roberts, one MI-6 Clive Owen) who go private and plan a big scam by getting hired by two competing moguls in the shampoo industry. In a world where eavesdropping is the rule, where nobody trusts anybody, where every word hides a lie which hides an even bigger lie being a couple of spies and lovers means first of all trusting each other? Is trust possible? this is the permanent question and the answer is so many times no that when time comes to answer yes the answer is simply not credible.The two lead actors create chemistry and they cannot act bad, but chemistry and good acting is not enough, especially as both Roberts and Owen look or are made to look in this film a little bit beyond the peaks of their respective sex-appeals. This may be intentional, as even sexy spies start getting old at some point, and this is a credible situation of life, but simply does not fit the profile of an action movie. On the other side the twists and layers and flashbacks in time are so many and so often that at some point in time I lost interest in watching the action, and believe me, this seldom happens to me in an action movie. Duplicity simply tries to hard to be smart, and the style of director Gilroy does not make justice to the scriptwriter Gilroy.