DUPLEX is truly one of the worst movies I've seen in years. Not even considering the talent involved, the movie is poorly written, directed, edited, photographed, paced and performed. If it was a small independent made by and starring unknowns, it would still suck.
As the young couple struggling to find a place to live, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, two actors I usually like, have absolutely no chemistry at all. They seem to just recite their lines back and forth, and never seem to actually be speaking to one another. Stiller does his usual barely-controlling-himself shtick, and Barrymore plays her "cute, adorable" character so badly, she is shockingly unlikable.
Danny DeVito shows zero of the style and energy he brought to THE WAR OF THE ROSES and THROW MAMA FROM THE TRAIN. It seems like he directed this movie over the phone, with an assistant director who barely spoke English as his liaison to the cast and crew. Scenes are so badly edited together, there seem to be chunks of the movie missing, although there doesn't seem to be any plot points left open. It's just a case of bad writing and directing coming together to create a train wreck of a movie.
Apparently the filmmakers were trying to craft a tasteless black comedy along the lines of WHERE'S POPPA or NEIGHBORS, but they don't have the guts nor the wit to pull it off. Instead, it resorts to the usual fart and puke jokes, and pulls the rug out from the audience just when it seems the movie is finally going to get as depraved as it seems to be promising. The ending of the movie is almost aggressively insulting to the audience's intelligence, adding insult to injury.
I wasn't expecting much from DUPLEX, and didn't even get that. It is one of those rare movies that is completely devoid of redeeming value. There isn't a single moment in the movie that was anything close to entertaining, surprising or even interesting. The only thing tasteless and offensive about it is that it exists.
As the young couple struggling to find a place to live, Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, two actors I usually like, have absolutely no chemistry at all. They seem to just recite their lines back and forth, and never seem to actually be speaking to one another. Stiller does his usual barely-controlling-himself shtick, and Barrymore plays her "cute, adorable" character so badly, she is shockingly unlikable.
Danny DeVito shows zero of the style and energy he brought to THE WAR OF THE ROSES and THROW MAMA FROM THE TRAIN. It seems like he directed this movie over the phone, with an assistant director who barely spoke English as his liaison to the cast and crew. Scenes are so badly edited together, there seem to be chunks of the movie missing, although there doesn't seem to be any plot points left open. It's just a case of bad writing and directing coming together to create a train wreck of a movie.
Apparently the filmmakers were trying to craft a tasteless black comedy along the lines of WHERE'S POPPA or NEIGHBORS, but they don't have the guts nor the wit to pull it off. Instead, it resorts to the usual fart and puke jokes, and pulls the rug out from the audience just when it seems the movie is finally going to get as depraved as it seems to be promising. The ending of the movie is almost aggressively insulting to the audience's intelligence, adding insult to injury.
I wasn't expecting much from DUPLEX, and didn't even get that. It is one of those rare movies that is completely devoid of redeeming value. There isn't a single moment in the movie that was anything close to entertaining, surprising or even interesting. The only thing tasteless and offensive about it is that it exists.