Duplicity

OK, I enjoyed this movie, the umpteenth “return” of Julia Roberts to the spotlight, for a little while. That is, until I figured out that writer-director Tony Gilroy had no real sense direction with his little spy vs. spy thriller. Roberts plays a CIA agent who gets entangled (or does she?) with an MI6 agent (Clive Owen) who digs her (or does he?), and the two might be playing each other (or are they?) as they seek to make the big money in a con. Gilroy uses ye olde time jumping devices—flashbacks and whatnot—to try to throw the viewer off track on the way to his oh-so-clever but not really conclusion. By the time the big payoff came around, I couldn’t give a damn, and Gilroy had worn out my patience. Roberts and Owen are just OK, with minimal chemistry between them. The best things about the film are Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson as rival corporate doodads who may or may not be out to double cross each other. Seriously … who cares?