I recently caught Tony Gilroy's new film (his 2nd) Duplicity (his 1st, Michael Clayton is stunning), starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, and it's another case in which I can't for the life of me get it out of my head. Most at first, like myself, would be fooled into thinking it's merely a fun caper-film, a-la the Ocean's series. A throwback to the sexy, fun spy films of the sixties (To Catch a Thief comes to mind). And Gilroy is certainly guilty of fashioning the film in this vein; it's slick and witty style is nothing new, no matter how well it's done. But don't allow the film's flair to distract you. Behind Roberts' glistening teeth and Owen's chiseled jaw-line is a great scathing critique of not only (more obviously) American capitalism and big corporations but also of a far older institution. One that at times is far more transparent and falsely grandiose: marriage.While Duplicity's main characters are not married, they do claim to love one another exclusively with the same "good intentions" (for the future) and intimate commitments any loving couple would have for one another. The problem is they don't trust each other. Without ruining the ending, to make a long story short... money is the root of nearly all evil. It ruins everything! Including any decent relationship, turning it into a simulacrum of a impossible ideal. Put your trust in money and it will only leave you lost, lonely, and depressed.
Keep this in mind when going into the film (viewing it more as parable then reality) and I guarantee you'll appreciate it alot more.
No comments:
Post a Comment