Release Date: September 26, 2003
Starring: Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essel, Harvey Fierstein, James Remar
Directed by: Danny DeVito
Written by: Larry Doyle, John Hamburg
Distributed by: Miramax Films
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, language, some violence)
Danny DeVito’s Duplex looks and feels like a combination between two of his past directorial efforts, The War of the Roses and Throw Momma From the Train, but it plays more like a mediocre sitcom with two major guest stars (Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore) and little else. The humor that DeVito and writers Larry Doyle and John Hamburg go far is all slapstick, entirely crude, and mostly predictable. So once again we have a comedy on the low end of the intelligence spectrum, concentrating more on immature jokes than developing the comedic potential of its central characters. But the biggest problem with it is, unlike a boring sitcom, you can’t reach for the remote and watch something else.
The movie is basically a 90-minute nightmare for main characters Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore), two newlyweds who think they’ve found the perfect place to live in Brooklyn. They’re under the impression that it’s affordable, cozy, and exactly what they need for starting a family. The only catch is that it’s a duplex and a sweet old lady, Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel), lives in the apartment above, but she seems to be quiet and kind enough that she will hardly be an issue. So the two move in immediately, but the first law comedies, and especially those darker in nature, is that there’s more to this than meets the eye.
Similar to DeVito’s Throw Momma From the Train, the seemingly harmless and pleasant Mrs. Connelly turns out to be the most annoying human being on Earth. Just like what the mother character does to her son in Momma, Mrs. Connelly eventually causes everything in their lives to fall apart, first by bothering them to help with simple chores, then by keeping them awake every night with her television, and finally by ruining both of their careers and getting them in trouble with the law. Understandably, Alex and Nancy decide the only solution to their problems is to see to the old woman’s untimely death. And though the situation is mildly amusing (at best), Mrs. Connelly is causing so much trouble that it’s both improbable and unbearable to us viewers.
Essentially, the story digs itself into such a deep hole of distress, it’s to the point of being ridiculous and the “good guys” are left too desperate and helpless for the story to be entertaining anymore -- though DeVito and his writers had to have thought it was funny. We want the young couple to finish off the old bag as soon as possible, but it’s more for our relief than for that of the characters themselves. After all, anything to cut this movie short would be more than appreciated.
Stiller is really the only source of comedy in all of Duplex; his accident prone character is reminiscent of the more appealing humor that he brought to Meet the Parents as a young man under the watchful eye of his soon-to-be father-in-law. Barrymore takes a while to catch up, and when she does the film has turned to its darkest humor, which suits her, but in this case it’s not in a good way. The pairing of both actors is clearly more for marketing purposes, especially because their onscreen relationship hardly has any chemistry or real emotion.
The situation their characters face is much like that of Tom Hanks and Shelly Long in 1986’s The Money Pit, a comedy about a couple who move into a mansion that turns out to be completely rundown and the source of great emotional and financial woes. The husband-wife relationship worked in that film because the conflict nearly tore them apart, which makes everything more believable and, as a result, more funny. In Duplex, Stiller and Barrymore act out their characters as the script requires them, but instead of playing human beings, they're mere pawns in this bland and sometimes tasteless romp.
DeVito’s occasional lack of tact certainly became apparent in Death to Smoochy, the film he worked on before Duplex. He clearly specializes in dark humor, which is an acquired taste for many moviegoers. But after watching scenes in Duplex that involve the elderly woman in the nude or sharing food with her pet bird, or Barrymore vomiting on Stiller’s face, it would be more accurate to say that DeVito’s brand of comedy is simply a painful viewing experience that deserves little appreciation. Unless it’s handled with a certain amount of taste, it’s hard to laugh at the concept of two nice young people trying to murder an irritating old woman.
Duplex doesn’t have much taste, though, and therefore the story probably shouldn’t have even been thought up in the first place. There are too many ludicrous situations and only one or two of them are funny (when Stiller loses his grip on the outside of Mrs. Connelly’s bathroom window, for example), so the film is more of a waste of time than anything else. A twist in the ending tries to wrap things up nicely and give the plot a bit more credibility, but it’s far too convenient to take seriously. This is a failed comedy.
-- Andy Zientek (zfilm@earthlink.net)