Unfunny and misguided, 'Duplex' deserves a wrecking crew
By Philip Wuntch
The Dallas Morning News
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| DUPLEX
Grade: D Starring Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Wallace Shawn and Swoosie Kurtz. Directed by Danny DeVito. Rated PG-13 (language, sex, comic violence). In wide release. 89 min. |
But "Duplex" just plods along predictably and leaves a sour aftertaste.
Headliners Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore do their frantic best and actually share a solid rapport. They're believable as young marrieds who have learned to accept each other's foibles. But they're helpless when faced with a screenplay that assumes audiences will roar at double entendres regarding a certain diminutive of the name Richard.
Stiller and Barrymore play Alex and Nancy, a New York couple who leave their Manhattan dwelling for an appealing Brooklyn brownstone. At first the upstairs tenant, an ostensibly benign little old lady named Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essell) seems charming in a stereotypical, quaint way. But the widow soon reveals herself as a malignant troublemaker.
She plays the television at full blast all through the night and holds brass band rehearsals during the day. Sleeplessness causes Nancy to lose her job at an upscale urban magazine and Alex to miss the deadline on the novel he's struggling to write. Eventually they undertake extreme measures to rid themselves of the astoundingly durable Mrs. Connelly.
Successful comedies rely on a sense of viewer empathy, and virtually everyone has "been there" with troublesome neighbors. But the film's misanthropic tone and predictable shenanigans sabotage all hopes of empathy.
As mentioned, the two stars acquit themselves with foolhardy courage, and Essell, as the dumb-like-a-fox tenant, makes some lines seem funnier than they are. Director DeVito has even managed to lasso a strong supporting cast, including Harvey Fierstein as a vacillating Realtor, Wallace Shawn as Barrymore's nervous boss and Swoosie Kurtz as Stiller's condescending editor. All give solid turns in a film that is best forgotten.
