Review of The Double (2014) by Elena M — 05 Apr 2014

I shoulda known better - anything based on Dostoyevsky isn't going to be a laugh a minute and The Double certainly doesn't disappoint on the gloomy scale. However, there is humour - dark and offbeat, so if you're expecting a raucous comedy you will be disappointed.

Jesse Eisenberg is excellent as the office drone - Simon James, living an earnest and unremarkable life in a bleak dystopian world. His life is overturned with the arrival of James Simon, his doppelgänger, the mirror image of himself, who appears to be living the life he should be living.

The doppelgänger is of course more exceptional, a hit with the ladies, an arch manipulator - an uninhibited version of Simon. The setting, cinematography and sound all deserve a mention. Ultimately for me, however the, "doesn't that guy look just like me" conceit runs out of steam after a while and I couldn't wait for the ego to catch the id.