Review of The Double (2014) by Ben R — 12 Oct 2014

I kind of love this, and I can't explain exactly why. Well, I know some specific reasons: it's often hilarious (though I wouldn't call this a comedy) in a weird, dark way. It has Jesse Eisenberg in two roles, excellent and believable in both. There's one more huge reason I can think of: though I usually pay more attention to the writing than the visual elements of a movie, a big part of the reason I loved this one was the stylishness of it. The director had such a clear vision that I loved watching unfold. Even in the comparatively uneventful scenes, it was so great just to soak in the images and notice the colors and angles and movements.

I think it's interesting how James doesn't appear until almost halfway through (by my mental clock, though it may be earlier). Having seen the trailer, I sat for much of the first half enjoying it but kind of wondering when the titular double was going to appear. It does feel a little off-balance having him come in so late; the first half is almost a different movie in some ways, luxuriating in the imagery without much story moving forward, and suddenly when James appears it's fast-paced and thrilling. But personally, I wasn't bothered by the first half, because it really did a great job setting up what was to come, and it had the same visual aesthetic and tone as the second half.

All in all, this was a strange and beautiful movie that I'll be puzzling over for a while.