Movie Review for Deception (2008)

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Review #637 of 365
Movie Review of Deception (2008) [R] 108 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When Seen: 25 April 2008
Time: 5:50 pm
DVD Release Date: 23 September 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer

Directed by: Marcel Langenegger (debut)
Written by: Mark Bomback (Live Free or Die Hard)

Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Hugh Jackman (Happy Feet) • Ewan McGregor (Miss Potter) • Michelle Williams (I'm Not There) • Lisa Gay Hamilton (Honeydripper) • Maggie Q (Balls of Fury) • Natasha Henstridge (Species 3) • Charlotte Rampling (Basic Instinct 2)

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Click to read the spoiler points for Deception
Deception might well be the moniker for the advertising campaign for the film that most certainly deceives but not, unfortunately, in the ways fans of mystery thrillers enjoy. If you've witnessed the trailer, you've seen a more exciting and thrilling short film than the feature film could ever hope to be--deceit number 1. If you thought because it stars Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and Michelle Williams it would be a good film—deceit number 2.
hopelessly dull…predictable.
If you thought, based on the preview trailer, the film would be a fascinating mind game type movie—deceit number 3—for the film is neither fascinating nor a good mind game. First, the film is nearly as hopelessly dull as the characters and their lifeless portrayals. Second, while the film might not be as predictable as the aforementioned statements might tend to make one think, it's still highly predictable and not even terribly sneaky about planting the bread crumbs useable to predict not only the 'twist' but the ending as well.

The story begins with audit accountant Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) toiling away in a conference room at a law firm in New York City when is work is interrupted in the late hours of the evening by dashing lawyer Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman) who cajoles Jonathan with a hit of marijuana and stories and obviously craved, on the part of Jonathan, friendship and emotional engagement. Shortly thereafter though an 'accidental' cell phone switcheroo, Jonathan ends up with Wyatt's cell phone and vice-versa just as Wyatt was being called away to London on a big deal. No sooner does Wyatt go away then does Jonathan, due to his possession of Wyatt's cell phone, enter Wyatt's secret sex club world known clandestinely as "The List". And boy oh boy does Jonathan's world change. He's suddenly getting to participate in activities with exotic powerful women including: a Wall Street Analyst (Natasha Henstridge), the Belle of Wall Street (Charlotte Rampling), and the woman he actually falls in love with, S (Michelle Williams). Unfortunately, he learns in near encounter with death and the subsequent kidnapping of S, that Wyatt is not who he seems to be, is not a lawyer at tall, never worked for the firm he was auditing, doesn't have a cool brownstone apartment, wasn't in London, and actually now wants him to steal $20 million from his next client and put it in a Spanish bank account in his name in Madrid for him to withdraw in exchange for the return of S. Should he refuse, though, S would be killed, and he would be implicated in the murder of the newly turned-up dead Wall Street Analyst with whom he was recently photographed. Well, an astute reader can probably predict what happens next.

As for the cast, Hugh Jackman is starting to suffer from the same pained, permanent frozen facial expression syndrome as Kevin Bacon resulting in characterizations that are cold, steely, and emotionless—which isn't terrible given that these are traits of this particular character. Ewan McGregor, on the other hand, seems to have taken to playing a series of dolts that just cannot quite figure life out, and this guy is the king of those roles. As for Michelle Williams, well, given the circumstances of her life the past year, its borderline miraculous that she's even able to show up for the role, which is pretty much, unfortunately, how the portrayal comes across. She's to be forgive, the other two not so much.

…the pace of the film is plodding…the music mostly is dreadful delivering unfinished crescendos at either obvious or obtrusive times…
Part of the reason that the film doesn't work terribly well and turns out to be barely interesting is that none of the characterizations or character broadly drawn themselves comes with much of a back story to clue us in as to why on earth we should really care very much about any of them. So, then, the burden of this nearly lifeless film has to fall on the shoulders of the writer, Mark Bomback, and then secondarily on the director, Marcel Langenegger. The directing, however, itself isn't so terrible from the artistic point of view. In fact, the film looks pretty good. Lighting and sets and costumes were chosen and framed well enough. The pace of the film is plodding, however, and the music mostly is dreadful delivering unfinished crescendos at either obvious or obtrusive times and always being used to build false anticipation of events that lack luster. Lastly, and worst of all is the cryptic ending that sort of doesn't seem to fit the characters or maybe it does, but either way it clinches a feeling of being wrongfully deceived by this film called Deception.
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Cast Members
Hugh Jackman • Ewan McGregor • Michelle Williams
Lisa Gay Hamilton • Maggie Q • Natasha Henstridge
Charlotte Rampling
Director
Marcel Langenegger
Writer
Mark Bomback
Review-lite Deception (2008) [max of 150 words]
Deception might well be the moniker for the advertising campaign for the film that most certainly deceives but not, unfortunately, in the ways fans of mystery thrillers enjoy. If you've witnessed the trailer, you've seen a more exciting short film than the feature film could ever be. If you thought because it stars Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and Michelle Williams it would be a good film, think again. If you thought, based on the preview trailer, the film would be a fascinating mind game, not so. First, the film is nearly as hopelessly dull as the characters and their lifeless portrayals. Second, while the film might not be as predictable as the aforementioned statements might tend to make one think, it's still highly predictable and not even terribly sneaky about planting the bread crumbs usable to predict not only the 'twist' but the ending as well.
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