"Duplicity" is opening this weekend, and with it Julia Roberts returns to the big screen with her first leading role since 2004's "Closer," in which she also starred with Clive Owen. The reviews are out and they are almost all great, heaping praise not only on Roberts and Owen but also on writer/director Tony Gilroy and all others parties involved in making the it.
Read some reviews below and vote in the poll.
The New York Times wrote that Duplicity is "superior entertainment":
"Duplicity" is superior entertainment, the most elegantly pleasurable movie of its kind to come around in a very long time....
It's a sharp, sexy comedy masquerading as a twisty tale of intrigue, and vice versa. And as soon as you grow impatient with the pre- or postcoital repartee of Ms. Roberts and Mr. Owen, a nimble army of supporting players comes forward to deliver Mr. Gilroy's mordantly funny dialogue with perfectly straight faces.
The NY Post is equally smitten, calling it "the whip-smart, sexy and delightfully twisty romantic thriller "Duplicity"" and giving it four of four stars:
This is a sharp-looking movie with a blue-chip cast... Bouncing back after the ludicrous "The International," Owen gives his best performance ever as the coolly charming Ray, the brainy bad boy women just can't resist...
The camera still loves [Roberts], and she seems to be having a blast playing the amoral Claire.
Variety loved "Duplicity" too, worrying only that it may be too smart:
"Duplicity" is a brainy, non-violent "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," the film "Intolerable Cruelty" wanted to be, a "Trouble in Paradise" for modern times. Smart, droll and dazzling to look at and listen to, writer-director Tony Gilroy's effervescent, intricately plotted puzzler proves in every way superior to his 2007 success "Michael Clayton." The twisty, time jumping narrative forces viewers to keep on their toes, and it could well be that "Duplicity" is too smart for its own good as far as the popcorn masses are concerned. Still, this is about as good as it gets these days for sharp-minded Hollywood entertainment made for an intelligent audience
The Hollywood Reporter wrote of Duplicity, echoing others:
"Duplicity" enjoys superb production values that add to the exhilaration of the film's rush through the familiar yet still welcome territory of movie espionage twists and turns. Gilroy employs nearly every key crew head who made "Clayton" such a slick and compelling thriller. They might have topped themselves here.
The New York Daily News, in the only rave, gave "Duplicity" 4 out of 5 stars, but then wrote nothing but nice things:
He's refreshingly sleek, apparently leaving his rumpled look under a bed somewhere but keeping his cool-customer aura. She's wonderfully mature, mixing some of Erin Brockovich's been-there-done-that attitude with a sly "Pretty Woman" smirk. Roberts has been away from lead roles since 2004's "Closer" (also co-starring Owen), and, while substance has never been her strong suit, Gilroy clearly knows where to dig. This is a role that the Julia Roberts of 1999 couldn't have played, and that's fine. The one we have here is much better
See premiere photos here.