Author: Wyatt Sanderman Day | Published: September 4th, 2009

    
Everyone Must Be Gamed

    Are you gaming me? Clive Owen's character, Ray Koval, would ask this question of Julia Roberts' character, Claire Stenwick, at a multiplicity of junctures within the film, "Duplicity," most especially at moments when their mistrustful and duplicitous characters bubbled up to a point of extreme interaction. An interaction that suggested that, while they had no trust in one another, oddly, each had each other's individual respect for their joint avocation - spying.

    Both Ray and Claire cut their professional teeth, so to speak, in international espionage years earlier. Ray for Great Britain as an agent of MI6 and Claire for the United States as an agent of the CIA. They were very good at their jobs and their respective characters suffered for their craft. That is truly the conflict that needs to be resolved as they both independently shift from international espionage to corporate spying: How will either or both of these people ever be capable, or worthy of a life partner?

    Ray's suspicions concerning Claire's sincerity is well founded. When she first met Ray at the U.S. Consulate in Dubai, UAE, she allowed herself to be seduced; only to later drug him into an unconscious stupor, and steal a package sensitive data that he was a courier of. The seeds of his suspicions were sown at this point. Maybe the man was a masochist, but, for whatever reason, Ray was inextricably drawn to this temptress, and their duplicitous paths would be intertwined.

    Director Tony Gilroy used his script on the sophistication of intrigue between multinational corporate CEO's and among consensual adults to produce a smart drama, peppered with some witty, and quite humorous dialogue. In addition to the excellent script, Director Gilroy's film incorporates a cast of some very talented actors that ably keep this smart film entertaining, while making the film a brain tease for the keeping the story straight, with all of the flashbacks to subtly explain this complicated tale of who is gamed, and for whom it benefits.

    In addition to Clive Owen and Julia Roberts, Tom Wilkerson and Paul Giamatti are wonderful as the viciously competitive CEOs, Howard Tully and Richard Garsik, respectively. Their relationship is even more acrimonious that that of Ray and Claire. Both men despise each other, and either men diligently prays and prepares for the other man's demise.

    It is fitting that these men are engaged in a professional death match, which provides jobs for Ray and Claire, and much suspenseful drama for Director Gilroy's audience. For 125 minutes, the film engages its audience and furthermore, keeps us on edge as this suspenseful mystery unfolds and reveals a surprise ending that will leave most of us guessing all the way to the film's conclusion. I thought I had it figured, but ultimately found the film a bit too duplicitous.

    Rated PG13. Released on DVD August 25, 2009.

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