Duplex (2003) Reviews

• I really really disliked this movie

  Manil2005-08-14

  I rarely feel the urge to comment a movie, but this one really got me ANGRY. Maybe that was the point, but I do not enjoy being angry. I prefer leaving a comedy happy. Do yourself a favor and skip this one. Watch the news, or some commercials instead. Trust me it's better! I like Ben Stiller and really love Drew Barrymore, which was why I watched this movie at all. It starts off with a sweet background story and a very sweet couple you root for as the bad luck begins. HERE BE SPOILERS!!! Being a comedy, I was hoping into the very end that it would have a happy ending. Instead I was more and more frustrated, irritated, agonized and angry!!!¤%¤ I really hate movies which base their humour on the misery of others. Even more so if the misery is partially due to stupidity. What annoyed me was first of all how the couple tolerated the mistreatment. And why on earth didn't they respond with the same medicine: annoy the lady even more! Make her miserable. Beat her at her own game! And the story was weak and transparent: it was apparent early on that the lady was doing this intentionally, and that the house salesman was in on it. Or enter hit-man, for when they would be desperate enough to think that was a good idea. The only surprise was their lame idea to wreck the house so she might leave. For a second I thought they were finally going to make HER life miserable, only to find out they were trying to electrocute or gas her to death. (Ever heard of life sentence for murder?) In the end they wrecked their house, were humiliated and tortured (sleep deprivation is an effective kind of torture), lost their jobs, sold everything they loved, payed repairs and new TV for the lady, sold the house at a huge huge (sic) loss, and on top of that left seeing the lady dead just when they've signed over the house. - The last 'happy' scene is just a joke in my face. / END SPOILERS !!! I have no idea if anyone cares enough to read my entire review. But if you are a fan of Drew Barrymore or Ben Stiller, do yourself a favour and DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. It is a complete waste of your time, and will only leave you disappointed. Now if you are a fourteen year old who enjoys killing ants, and who laugh when your friend falls and breaks a leg, then this is your cup of tea.

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• Comedy gone awry....

  triple82005-04-08

  SPOILERS THROUGHOUT: I really wasn't expecting Duplex to be Oscar material but I thought I'd like it more then I did. I am a major fan of Drew Barrymore and the combination of her and Stiller had promise. I hadn't heard great things about Duplex but like to decide for myself. Unfortunately, I didn't like this. This movie I guess, was OK to start but took a turn for the worse and didn't let up. By the end I was sort of out of it. And not in a good way. There were a number of things that bothered me about this. Number one is the mean spiritedness. Number two is the means spiritedness. And number three is the mean spiritedness. Oh yeah, maybe a few other things... The way Duplex develops it gets to the point where one is numb watching it and just wants it to end. As Drew and Ben step up their efforts to drive the old lady out of the duplex, things go more and more wrong for them, and it's not like the audience doesn't see this coming. Every twist and turn that happens can be totally predicted. The movie gets to the point where it seems like it's one major focus is: Stiller/Barrymore try to drive old lady away, it backfires. Unfortunately, after seeing this happen about 20 times, it DOES make one a bit weary. The happenings become more and more ridiculous and when Stiller loses his book, it's at the point where it's just painful. There's nothing funny about this, and I'm not sure what the movie's point was. There is a time when something crosses the line from being funny to annoying. And watching it, I really did wonder why certain things were even put in there as they were not on the par with what the talented people involved in this, have brought to us with other films. Duplex gets a three from me because there were a few genuinely laugh out loud funny lines. But that is only in the beginning, things turn around very quickly. I guess to sum up I'd describe this not just with the standard "disapointing" but also "puzzling." I just don't get it, either I'm quite wrong about what is actually funny, or this movie just didn't get it. I do tend to think the latter. My vote's 3 of 10.

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• DeVito does it again

  themarina12004-03-07

  From the twisted mind of Danny DeVito comes this story in the style of "War of the Roses". Here, a nice NY couple finally find their dream home only to discover that they have a built in tenant. Not exactly what they were looking for but it really can't be that bad can it? The little old lady that lives upstairs turns out to be a nightmare and a half. In a variety of scenarios, most comical and some just plain, outright strange, the nice couple turn into psycho landlords and the nice old lady turns into the crazy bat upstairs. In the end, the twist comes as a true surprise. A hilarious, laugh out loud movie, this was really enjoyable and a must watch. DeVito has done it again and I can't wait to see what's coming next!!! 8/10

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• crude but often amusing comedy

  Buddy-512005-01-27

  In Danny De Vito's "Duplex," Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore play a young couple who buy a "dream apartment" in Brooklyn whose amenities include everything two upwardly mobile yuppies could possibly want: ample space, solid wood floors, three glorious fireplaces, and, above all, a quiet environment where Alex, a budding novelist, can spend his days writing in uninterrupted peace and quiet. Or so they think…for, unfortunately, the place also comes replete with what turns out to be the tenant from hell, a doddering old woman who lives on the second floor and who makes life miserable for the two of them with her continually blaring television and her constant intrusions into their daily lives. Finally driven to the breaking point, Alex and Nancy decide to take matters into their own hands in order to rid themselves of this human pest in any way they can. "Duplex" is, essentially, a one-joke comedy and, as such, it does suffer from the occupational hazard common to all one-joke comedies of built-in repetitiousness. However, the writing has a surprisingly dark edge to it that lifts the film above the run-of-the-Hollywood-comedy-mill. I must confess to having a certain weakness for dotty old lady comedies, counting among my favorite films the original British classic "The Lady killers" from 1955. Eileen Essel is so delightful as the bete noire of the piece that it's hard not to fall under the spell of both her character and the film itself. De Vito, in a return to the black comedy form that served him so well in "The War of the Roses," keeps the comedy tough and brutal, even if it means bludgeoning the audience over the head a bit in the process. Stiller does his usual shtick as the put-upon Everyman, while Barrymore is able to use her customary cutesiness to full advantage as the sweet little ingénue driven to murder to save her own sanity. "Duplex" is certainly not everyone's cup of tea, and I imagine that it would not win the stamp of approval from the AARP. Still, if you're in the market for something different in a mainstream comedy, "Duplex" just might fit the bill.

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• Very Funny Black Humor Comedy

  claudio_carvalho2004-12-25

  The writer Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and his beloved wife Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore), who works in an advertisement agency, want to buy a house and cannot afford an apartment in Manhattan, but they find a wonderful old duplex in Brooklyn for living. The house, which has three fireplaces, is a dream, the price is very reasonable and the only inconvenient is the existence of the old tenant Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel) on the second floor. Although aware that they can not move the old lady from her apartment, the young couple decides to buy the duplex. When they move to their new home, their lives become a hell, due to the nasty Mrs. Connelly. "Duplex" is a very funny black comedy, directed by Danny DeVito, who is a specialist in this genre. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore show a great chemistry, but Eileen Essel "steals the show" in the role of a sweet & nasty old lady. There are two plot points in the end of the story that I liked a lot. "Duplex" is not a masterpiece, but make the viewer, who likes black humor, laughs a lot and is a good entertainment. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Duplex"

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