Tromperie

Two things to say about this film.

Firstly, what an astoundingly rubbish title for a movie. "Deception"??? Oh, come on. Can you think of a more non-committal, less interesting, less imaginative title for a movie? I can't. All thrillers are about deception, of one kind or another.

"Deception" originally went into production under the title "The List". Hmm... Well... OK. I admit it. That title is also pretty bad. Then, "Deception" was going to be called "The Tourist". Now, I kind of like that. Sounds art house and kind of strange. Conjures up images of an observer, an outsider. Somebody not in the loop. In fact, pretty much the character that Ewan McGregor plays.

Secondly, what a completely rubbish movie! OK, maybe not completely rubbish. Just mostly rubbish.

"Deception" is a good 20 minutes too long. After a while it just seems to go on and on. The climax is misjudged and mistimed. The sex is typical Movies 24 soft core erotica, or maybe a Friday night Channel 5 movie from the early Noughties. You know the kind of thing. Soft focus humping to a soundtrack of screaming saxophone driven jazz. (Mind you don't trip over the cliché, there chief!) Also, every plot twist in "Deception" is signposted way in advance. If you don't get at least one of the major plot twists then, frankly, you really should give up watching movies. Pretty lame, pretty dull, pretty bad movie.

I said 'mostly rubbish', so some of it must have been good. Yes?

I did like the film's chilly, European ambiance. I liked the idea of powerful people, too isolated and too busy to develop human relationships. I liked Hugh Jackman's well dressed and cold instigator, Ewan McGregor's lonely accountant and Michelle Williams' bruised vulnerability. I thought all three leads made the most of their underwritten roles, but sadly it was not enough.

There is plenty of space in this world for a good, sexualised thriller (see the original "Basic Instinct"), but sadly "Deception" was nothing like a good sexualised thriller.

The writing and direction here are solid, but unspectacular, and if that were all there was, the movie, too, would be unspectacular. But what drives the entire endeavor is the acting. Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor are among that small group of actors who never give a bad performance, and that's certainly the case here. Michelle Williams, though, is another matter altogether: she is SO good, and SO deep, and SO nuanced, that she rises above what she had been in the past and simply makes this movie her own. Hers is one of those performances (there are two scenes where she delivers voluminous messages simply by a look, without a single word) that make you wholly reevaluate the actor's skill and intelligence; at least, it did that for me: I changed my opinion of her and her abilities, and I won't be able to look at her again in the way I had before. And I like experiencing that, so I like the movie much more for that fact. If you're a Michelle Williams fan, you really HAVE to see this film.

This movie is supposed to be a thriller, but is unfortunately quite short of "thrills".

My biggest complaint would be the movie's pace - it is very slow, and at times quite boring.

There are far too many implausabilities and plot holes, but even if you suspend your disbelief and just accept the story being told, it's still not a very good movie.

The script just isn't very good.

This is by no means the worst movie ever, however if you're looking for a GOOD thriller, I would not recommend this movie as one.

It's a shame really, because Hugh needs another good movie to boost his career. His last few have not been critical or box office smash hits (save the X-Men franchise), and I'm starting to seriously doubt his ability to pick good scripts. Hopefully "Australia" will turn his sadly not- so-good streak around.

The thing is that the plot takes too many turns, so many that the movie ties itself in knots and must resort to a lot of silliness to develop a finale and get out of the whole mess. The early moments are quite involving, showing the nerd-player friendship taking to something scary. Nevertheless, in spite of the good beginning, I figure the two leads have never the chemistry that would explain why they got drawn to one - another, so moments where the viewer would say "OK, everything seems to work" are very rare. The story gets then ridiculous in the end due to many plot twist that poop a film otherwise decent. There's also a cameo of Charlotte Rampling.

Its not perfect by no means, the script has much to be desired and at times the acting was unconvincing. But when I went into the Cinema I wasn't expecting anything mind-blowing, in fact I wasn't expecting anything at all. Surprisingly I didn't seam to find the movie overly predictable, however at times its dramatically far fetched. Notably the complete stupidity of a shooting occurring in broad day light in a busy European city going unnoticed. All this being said, the movie is entertaining. I wasn't at any moment particularly board with its rather slow beginning moving on to a fast paces final hour. Surprisingly Ewan McGregor seamed to portray the role fairly well with the exception of a few noticeable accent slips. Michelle Williams on the other hand has much to be desired. In no way am I suggesting she's a great actress but I was surprised at how unconvincingly she portrays a rather simple role. Its definitely a mixed bag, where on one hand its very engaging and on the other it has obvious flaws. I recommend it, you'll be thoroughly entertained but try not going in the theatre expecting to much.