Reviews by Matt

Caper movies are one of my favorite types of movies. They are, for the most part, fun movies. It is fun to try to figure out what is going on, watch the plan as it comes together, and see how obstacles are overcome. In the past couple years movies like “Inside Man,” “The Italian Job,” and the “Ocean’s Eleven” movies have been pretty popular. Now “Duplicity,” which oddly enough stars two people who have had experience with past caper movies, has thrown it’s hat into that ring.

Ray Koval (“Inside Man” star Clive Owen) and Claire Stenwick (“Ocean’s Eleven” star Julia Roberts) are former spies working on the opposite side of the same scam, or are they? There is a formula that will revolutionize the world and make billions for the company who has it. One company headed by Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) has the formula and another company headed by Richard Garsilk (Paul Giamatti) wants it. Ray and his team are hired by Richard to steal the formula and Claire is hired by Howard to keep it safe.

It takes a lot to trick me. I have seen a lot of caper movies and watch a lot of procedural dramas on television (cop shows) and can usually figure those out pretty quickly. This movie came as a complete surprise to me. When it ended I was truly shocked. That is the mark of a truly great caper movie.

As far as performances go, everyone was good. No one really stood out. Owen and Roberts had great chemistry and played off one another really well. Wilkinson and Giamatti were great as the heads of the competing companies. Their slow motion fight in the beginning of the movie was absolutely hilarious.


One of the funniest things is what the two are competing over. It seems like this grand thing, but the revel of what it really is, is one on the funniest things in the movie.

8 out of 10
PG-13 for language and some sexual content
125 min