As a screenwriter, Tony Gilroy has a good reputation in the American film industry today, and the Bourne trilogy is particularly successful. In 2007, the first film he wrote and directed, Michael Clayton, won 7 Oscar nominations, including his personal screenwriting and director awards. Gilroy's films, even action films, are very intelligent and suitable for adults. In the general climate of American film industry that is welcoming young audiences, Gilroy's existence is quite rare. His latest work Duplicity ("Duplicity") will naturally not be missed.
Like Michael Clayton, Duplicity is also a film with a non-linear structure, but with more dislocations in time and space. Five years ago, the spy Claire (Julia Roberts) from the American CIA and Ray (Clive Owen) from MI6, a British intelligence agency, met at a party in Dubai. Did the two fall in love at first sight? We don't know, but the chemical reaction is obvious, the love hasn't moved, and sex comes first.
Obviously, the director wants the audience to know too many things, so he uses the separation screen effect that is not common in current film production. From a series of small screens across the big screen, we see Claire anaesthetize Ray and take the information from his suitcase. I was touched by one detail. Ray was already unconscious on the bed. Claire put a pillow under his head to make him sleep more comfortable. Work belongs to work, and tricks go to tricks. The basic love and compassion cannot be omitted.
From the moment the two eyes met, the audience should wonder, who is tempting whom? Ray tricked Claire into bed, or did Claire tempted Ray to trick herself into bed? Five years after being separated in the Middle East, the two met in New York. They no longer worked for the government, but collected intelligence on competitors for the same cosmetics company. The entanglement between the two hunters and their prey restarted, and their footprints were all over London, Rome, Miami, Cleveland and other places. In addition to the many changes in location, the time schedule is also more complicated. You just watched the present, and the next shot will take you back to three years ago. A story just happened two years later, and the camera developed four months later. Why is it so? I think it's mainly because Tony Gilroy feels that he has the ability to grasp the direction in the chaos and chaos for the chaos.
Both Claire and Ray are good spies by nature, they are extremely professional, and they are completely unconstrained by moral right and wrong. They can satisfy people's illusions about the life of spies in the post-Cold War era, handsome men and sexy women, mature and attractive. Although he has already exceeded the legal age for marriage, he has always been single and can spark sparks with the opposite sex at any time. The two of them have been romantically in many cities in the world, and have a heavy crush of staying in a hotel room for 3 days without going out, but they can't see that they have trusted each other for a minute. To change this situation, Claire asked Ray, "If I told you I loved you, would it make any difference?" (If I told you I loved you, would it make any difference?) Ray's answer was, "If you Tell me or if I believe you?” (If you told me or if I believe you?) Whether trust can be established is not necessarily related to love or sex.
From the perspective of the way of advancing the story, movies for teenagers mainly rely on actions, and movies for adults mainly rely on dialogue. The dialogue that Tony Gilroy arranged for Claire and Ray is the best part of the film. There is a line about Dubai being deceived, "Last thing I remember before I passed out was how much I liked you." (Last thing I remember before I passed out was how much I liked you.), Ray said several times. Claire's first reaction was to pretend not to know him. This line has appeared repeatedly in the movie, and the audience will probably feel confused every time. What is true and what is false? Who is blinding whom?
The performances of Julia Roberts and Clive Owen may have a chance to get some recognition in the film awards at the end of the year. In addition to the two protagonists, the auxiliary lineup composed of Tom Wilkinson and Paul Giamatti is also very good, but Duplicity is absolutely impossible to replicate the success of Michael Clayton.
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