It's spy vs. spy in witty take on corporate espionage
After winning seven Oscar nominations for his excellent corporate drama "Michael Clayton," Tony Gilroy lightens up the cloak-and-dagger subculture of American business with "Duplicity," a witty, comic romance well-equipped with snappy dialogue, a time-twisted narrative and the closest character to James Bond that Clive Owen has ever handled.
He plays Ray Koval, a 12-year vet of MI6, the British secret service.
At a resort in 2003 Dubai, Ray, sharply dressed and shaven, approaches an attractive woman and takes his best shot at impressing her.
Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) rolls her eyes and easily deflects Ray's deadliest lines.
"I thought we were checking each other out," Ray thrusts.
"Maybe you were drunk," Claire parries.
"If I were drunk, I'd be coming on to you," Ray counters.
What does he call this?
The two wind up in the silk-covered sack where Claire, a CIA operative, drugs Ray and steals important information. The next time they meet, five years have passed and they discover that each has left government service to become a corporate spy for a rival company. Except that Claire is really a double agent working for Ray's company.
Maybe.
"Duplicity" almost gets bogged down with endless discussions of trust by Claire and Ray, who profess they love each other, yet each knows the other might be lying. Still, they agree to work together to pull off a scam that might net them $40 million if they do it right.
International CEO Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) operates Burkett & Randle. Egomaniac top dog Dick Garsik (Paul Giamatti) runs the Omnikrom conglomerate. We meet them in an astonishing opening shot when the two industry captains, flanked by their symmetrical corporate jets, attack each other in comical slow motion as their staffers watch aghast.
Garsik's intel people, Ray among them, become convinced that Tully is about to announce some secret major product that will put B&R on top. "He's going to crush me!" Garsik shouts.
With Claire on the inside, Garsik's spies go through elaborate methods to get information, including planting devices on all of Tully's copying machines so they will broadcast materials copied.
Gilroy's fascination with corporate intrigue pays off here. He immerses us in an authentic world of obsessive corporate competitors who go so far as to buy entire landfills just so they can go through the garbage for useful information.
But the main story remains the cagey, charismatic romance between Ray and Claire, whose relationship (and plot) are cleverly revealed in time-shifted sequences with chapter titles such as "Miami: 14 months ago" and "Rome: two years ago." Each new chapter changes the meaning of those we've already seen.
With a title like "Duplicity," you know there's got to be a payoff waiting in the wings.
Until then, writer/director Gilroy plies us with amusing dialogue.
"At least we have each other," Claire laments.
"Are things that bad?" Ray wonders.
<p class="factboxheadblack">"Duplicity"</p> <p class="News">Three stars</p> <p class="News"><b>Starring:</b> Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Denis O'Hare</p> <p class="News"><b>Directed by:</b> Tony Gilroy</p> <p class="News"><b>Other:</b> A Universal Pictures release. Rated PG-13 (language, sexual situations). 125 minutes.</p>