Review of Deception (2008) by Phil T — 07 Mar 2009

It is a well known construct of most decent films that they should have a narrative made up of a beginning, a middle and an end. However no-one appears to have told that to the makers of Deception. While it starts out well enough, it soon descends into a poor distant cousin of Clive Owen vehicle â??Derailedâ?? and then just when you think its as bad as it is going to get, it sticks on a ridiculous finale which makes you wonder exactly why you bothered to watch when the makers couldnâ??t be bothered to finish it properly.

On the surface it looked like it was going to be a pretty decent movie, with two of Hollywoods leading lights in McGregor and Oscar host Hugh Jackman. The story was zingy enough as bored and lonely accountant Jonathan makes an unlikely friend in high flying lawyer Wyatt. After a typical phone mix-up, Jonathan discovers a secret club made up of well to do individuals who anonymously meet up just to get down. Unfortunately for Jonathan he isnâ??t quite able to stop himself from falling in love with one of them (Michelle Williams rather sultry S) before she is rather rudely taken.

Sounds fairly thriller-esque and barring the fact that you know that all is not as it seems (its in the title durrrâ?¦) it is fairly good, but then Deception begins to turn into a pretty rubbish straight to DVD type affair as Jonathan attempts to grow a backbone and find his way out of the situation that he finds himself in while looking for the girl of his dreams. For a man who has plodded along in his lonesome existence, his character shift is remarkable and ultimately not based in any form of reality. Heâ??s a bumbling wreck, then heâ??s a hero. There hasnâ??t been a character shift of this magnitude since Louis Tully donned a ecto-pack in Ghostbusters 2.

But Jonathan doesnâ??t just turn into Rick Moranis, he then kicks into overdrive and becomes Mickey Bricks from Hustle for good measure (oh and now he can use a gun) making a complete joke out of his character and therefore the movie as a whole. It is a shame as Jackman is quite enjoyable in his duplicity role, even though his character descends into stupidity before the end credits role. Even McGregor isnâ??t bad, but is given a character so awfully written that you wonder why he bothered to take it.

Then add the schmaltzy ending and what you have left is a film that descends so rapidly into farce that if you put it in graph form it would resemble the profit/loss sheet at RBS. A sad reflection on what should have been a gripping movie.