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Movies Forum Index » Movie Reviews Forum » Review: Duplex (2003)
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| Author |
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| Rose 'Bams' Cooper |
 Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 10:58 pm |
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'3BlackChicks Review...'
DUPLEX (2003)
Rated PG-13; running time 87 minutes
Studio: Touchstone Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Seen at: Eastwood Neighborhood Cinema Group (Lansing, Michigan)
Official site: http://www.miramax.com/duplex/
IMDB site: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266489/combined
Written by: Larry Doyle
Directed by: Danny DeVito
Cast: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein,
Robert Wisdom, James Remar
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003
Review URL:
http://www.3blackchicks.com/2003reviews/bamsduplex.html
Back in our salad days, my husband and I lived as downstairs tenants
in a duplex that, like DUPLEX, had an Upstairs Tenant From Hell. Our
UTFH, Kika (last name withheld in case he ever wakes from his
drug-induced haze, miraculously discovers The Internet, somehow
stumbles upon 3BC, and tries to find out where we now live), had a
habit of asking us for plastic bread bags from which to sniff glue,
his drug of choice. This was but one of sterile, toothless Kika's
oft-expressed charms.
Since we, fortunately, only rented instead of owned the duplex, we
were finally able to escape Kika's madness with only minimal psychic
damage resulting from the experience. Though there were times when I
wished Kika would've suffocated himself with one of those plastic
bags, I find it hard to believe that supposedly smart people could be
led to do such stupid things, as did the characters in DUPLEX. Or,
for that matter, director Danny DeVito.
THE STORY (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**)
Alex (Ben Stiller) and Nancy (Drew Barrymore) are a newlywed yuppie
couple trying to get their piece of the pie. Instead of movin' on up
to the East Side, to a deeluxe apartment in the...sorry, drifted for a
second...they want to own a house somewhere in greater New York City.
With the help of real estate agent Kenneth (Harvey Fierstein), they
find a great duplex to settle into. One problem: the duplex comes
complete with with Wacky, Rent-Controlled Upstairs Tenant From Hell,
the elderly Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essell). And you know what happens
when Yuppie Newlywed Couple meets Wacky, Rent-Controlled Upstairs
Tenant From Hell, don'cha? You guessed it: Wackiness Ensues.
THE UPSHOT
I'm convinced that critic Jon Popick and I were The Only Ones who
liked DeVito's previous effort, DEATH TO SMOOCHY, a dark comedy so
head-and-shoulders smarter and better than DUPLEX, that I find it hard
to believe they were both done by the same director. DUPLEX suffers
most from the look-alike comparison between DeVito's other works,
though, from the vastly underrated WAR OF THE ROSES (which I can't
even find on DVD, for cryin' out loud), to the lame and far too
similar THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN. And worse: the old lady here is
too reminiscent (though not nearly as funny) as Robin Williams' title
character in MRS. DOUBTFIRE.
Not that DUPLEX is completely DeVito's cross to bear. I remember
DeVito's ROSES fondly, and wonder what stars Michael Douglas and
Kathleen Turner, in their earlier days, could've done with Alex and
Nancy in DUPLEX. Not much, I'd imagine; I can't picture them lending
themselves to this effort, though if anyone had to do it, I guess Ben
Stiller and Drew Barrymore made sense. Stiller especially seems
suited for "Watch how I react to this silly situation!" movie sitcoms,
and he had his chuckle-worthy moments. But I felt embarrassed for
Barrymore and Robert Wisdom (as Officer Dan), and all they had to
suffer at the hands of DeVito and writer Larry Doyle. "Embarrassed",
though, is not the word I'd use for how I felt about the "payoff" at
the end of the movie; "ready to reach through the screen and choke
DeVito for trying to feed us such unmitigated crap", now that's more
like it.
I know most of my fellow reviewers are frothing at the mouth over
Eileen Essell as Mrs. Connelly, but for me, her character is too
meshed with all the things that are wrong with DUPLEX, so you'll have
to forgive me if I don't jump on Essell's bandwagon. I hope Essell is
enjoying her spot in the sunlight, however; after all, how many older
actresses can say they had such a substantial role in a mainstream
Hollywood movie these days?
In the end, "overly derivative" is the call of the day for DUPLEX.
"Poorly written, unfunny characters doing dumb, completely unrealistic
things" also fits. My Disbelief got a tension headache from being
Suspended higher than it had any right to be.
BAMMER'S BOTTOM LINE
Apply rent control to DUPLEX: wait and spend your money on the video
rental release.
DUPLEX rating: yellowlight
Rose "Bams" Cooper
Webchick and Editor,
3BlackChicks Review
Entertainment Reviews With Flava!
Copyright Rose Cooper, 2003
EMAIL: bams@3blackchicks.com
http://www.3blackchicks.com/
==========
X-RAMR-ID: 36021
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1206166
X-RT-TitleID: 1125788
X-RT-SourceID: 447
X-RT-AuthorID: 3672
X-RT-RatingText: 3/5 |
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