This film SUCKED ASS! It started out pretty good. Had a few hearty chuckles, but slowly it morphed into Ihateitville.
I thought the acting was good. It's Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore; I'm very fond of their acting. I didn't like the direction that the film was taken in. The story was poorly written, and directing left something to be desired.
Remember the film, Matilda? Very cute movie! Also directed by Danny Devito in addition to featuring Devito as Matilda's father, and featuring Devito as the narrator. Alice, where are you going with this? Trust me, there's a connection. In Duplex, Devito also tried some narrating at the start of the film (talking about "so you're ready to buy a house") and at the end (talking about "who knows what the hell he was talking about"). My point being, narration worked for Matilda because that film was based on a book (narration making it seem more storylike) and was consistent throughout the film. It did NOT work for Duplex because it was inconsistent and didn't add a darn thing to the story.
And the story was just a bad story. At the end you find out that all this hell this couple went through was just some old lady's and her gay son's and her son's lover's idea of a cruel joke. Ummm, I didn't find the humor in this joke. |