The plot of the story is actually very simple. Two people who retired from the national intelligence agencies (CIA, M16) fell in love at first sight and became a couple, but they served as commercial spies for two highly competitive companies. In the end, the two jointly planned. A well-thought-out plan tricked the company into stealing a valuable product.
After watching the film, I always felt that it was actually a very simple thing. The director just messed up the sequence of story development and turned the time upside down, and the film was broken. If you just intersperse one or two paragraphs of flashbacks occasionally, it’s fine. The director seems to have the taste of not letting it go. There are almost five or six paragraphs before and after, and I’m a little dizzy when I finish watching. Later, you have to sort it out again slowly. As a film that does not emphasize plot and ideological connotation, this approach is really a bit too much.
However, I actually sympathize with those directors a little bit. If today's movies still adopt the traditional three-act or linear narrative structure, without setting a little suspense, it will really not be able to lift the audience's taste. You think, if you watch the beginning, you will know the middle, and if you watch the middle, you will know the ending. Can such a film still attract you? There is no way. The audience’s appreciation level is already different from the past and it’s hard to wait. Therefore, we can only stir the story in the order of development, and add a somewhat "unexpected" ending. , In order to grasp the audience's psychology. Alas, it’s difficult for current directors to do it...
In fact, the subject matter of this film is quite interesting. It is not only a commercial espionage crime drama, but also a romantic romance. Because it involves espionage themes, it is inevitable to deceive each other and deceive each other; but unlike the common military espionage that involves national interests, this film only positions the protagonist as a commercial espionage, so there is no need to fight, kill, kill, and kill. As well as some fierce gun battle scenes, viewers can fully appreciate the performances of the two stars, Cliff Owen and Julia Roberts, with a relaxed and happy attitude. At least, there is no tension in the process of watching the movie.
Because it is a commercial espionage, coupled with some love elements, the film does not have to focus on the thrilling espionage war and the fight scenes of you chasing me in the plot, but because it is developed in the profession of espionage Love, deception and concealment are professional characteristics and the concept of love when faced with frankly. When these two contradictory beliefs conflict together, how does the love between the two develop? The dramatic tension of the film's story suspense naturally formed.
One is a former CIA agent (Claire Schawick, Julia Roberts), and the other is a former MI6 agent (Ray Caval, Cliff Owen). The two have been soaked in In a whirlpool of lies, duplicity, fraud is commonplace, and the company where they worked separately is also a large-scale company with fierce competition. The professional characteristics and the opposition of their identities make them fight for wits and courage in their careers, but these contacts have brought them closer and closer in life. True or false love is intertwined in the conspiracy of business wars, this love Who will win the tug-of-war?
In fact, the subject matter and suspense of the film are attractive enough, but it was so troublesome by the director's mystery. One was Rome two years ago, another was London 18 months ago; another was 12 hours later, another was 10 days ago... …The dislocation of time and space seems to be very complicated, but in fact it is just that. In addition, some unprofessional espionage methods, such as the process of stealing formulas in the film, are professional spies. They don’t even have spy tools such as the most common pocket cameras, scanning pens, or instant electronic products. I used a photocopier to send it for a long lap, and it felt a little bit "flickering and not paying for life". There is also the team that specializes in collecting intelligence. According to the introduction in the film, they have been attacking for almost several months, and the hand-made photocopiers have already been sent to the other party’s company. The location of the photocopiers should be very clear. That’s right. As a result, at the critical moment when the information was to be sent, I was madly searching for drawings, looking for those copiers that had done tricks, and even stupidly using phone calls to confirm the location. This is not a clear evidence of committing crimes. ! This scene seems very tense, but because of these obvious mistakes, the tension created deliberately makes it very funny and ridiculous.
The ending of the film was indeed a bit unexpected, I didn't expect it. It seems that this ending is also educational, although money is lost, but true love is reaped. But for those who like Cliff Owen and Julia Roberts, this ending is unavoidable. My idea is that the two of them succeeded in stealing the formula (preferably arranged more cleverly), and then sold it, forgetting each other.
Generally speaking, from my personal point of view, the script of this film should be a good one. Unfortunately, because the director used too much mystery to narrative and obviously illogical mistakes, the film became mediocre. .
Yigu/Text 07/16/2009
View more about Duplicity reviews
