Claire Stenwick used to work for the CIA, and Ray Koval used to work for MI6. The pair had an affair many years ago, and now they're released from their respective agencies, they decide to do a job all of their own. Claire decides they should go to work for rival pharmaceutical companies and con them both to the tune of $40 million. Both bosses are desperate to get the new product from each other, so Claire and Ray twist things to get the product for themselves without anyone else knowing. But can they ever really trust each other, and will their competitive streaks be the making or breaking of them?
This was a film I've been eager to see after all the adverts on TV a while back, and then I've seen it on the beginning ads of several DVDs I've rented lately too. I love Julia Roberts as an actress and Clive Owen is growing on me too so this seemed like an ideal watch. My fiance and I sat down with my parents to watch it on the last day of our visit to theirs so we hoped to enjoy it, and I think for the most part they did, but I was left a tad confused and completely underwhelmed by this poor, disappointing movie!
The film begins introducing us to the characters of Ray and Claire and a bit of their background. All seemed pretty straightforward at this point, but then things started to get a bit peculiar for me. It then proceeded to jump forwards and backwards in time, repeating sequences over and over with no explanation, trying to create this "interesting" story of deception, lies and also a little love as well. Now, I'm not a thick person but I was just flummoxed most of the time with what was going on, my fiance having to whisper in my ear every 5 minutes what was happening and I think it was poorly constructed in this manner.
The acting isn't really anything to sing home about either. Roberts has obviously done some amazing films in the past, but this is not going to be anywhere near up there with the greats. She is fairly bland in this movie and doesn't seem to put much passion into the character of Claire, and consequently I didn't care much for her either way to be honest which was a shame. I also felt the chemistry between her and Owen was seriously lacking, and I found the relationship a little too false to be believable. The only part where I felt the two actors were any good was the surprising ending! The performance I did enjoy was that of the brilliant Paul Giamatti as company boss Richard Garsik - a very funny and fantastic performance and really puts the rest to shame.
Action scenes in the film were unfortunately pretty few and far between. There was one very good scene that was tense and created a good atmosphere and the final few scenes were good too, but other than that there was nothing to really write home about throughout the movie. It just seemed the whole movie had a very lacklustre feel about it and it seemed to plod along without really shocking or getting the audience excited about this heist that is going to happen. I think the constant chopping and changing of the period of time the film focusses on doesn't help with that, and I just think it seemed very confused. One thing I liked was the changing of location as it kept it fresh and gave viewers something nice to look at but it's only a minor positive really!
It's a shame that such good actors have made such a hash of what could have been a great movie. I feel that the idea of the plot is a good one, and really could have worked if it had been done in a different way. I didn't like how it flicked back and forth between Ray and Claire's relationship as it wasn't always clear to me what was going on and when the action on screen took place in relation to the current storyline of the heist, and the whole thing left me cold really. As I said, there were a few scenes here and there which were good but they weren't even to save this mess from becoming a disaster. The adverts for this make it look fun and a great watch, but they've clearly just shown the few good bits to entice the viewers which I think is a real shame. I wouldn't waste your time watching this, and if you must, I'd advise waiting until its on telly and won't cost you anything! Disappointing.
Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy. Running Time: 125 minutes Certificate: 12A
Main Cast: Clive Owen ... Ray Koval Julia Roberts ... Claire Stenwick Tom Wilkinson ... Howard Tully Paul Giamatti ... Richard Garsik
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Bharat Nalluri, Rob Bailey, Andy Wilson - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matthew MacFadyen, Keeley Hawes, David Oyelowo, Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Lisa Faulkner
Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
Advantages: Fun to watch, good chemistry between Owen and Roberts Disadvantages: Formulaic in parts and it would be nice to see Roberts in a different kind of role
soulspinner 13.09.2009 ·
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