Duplicity (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

Video:

The 2.40:1 wide framed "Duplicity" is an average looking release on Blu-ray and the film is clearly shown in high definition, but doesn´t necessarily excite with its visuals. The transfer does what is needed and the level of detail and coloring are both solid and without flaws, but "Duplicity" isn´t a movie you are going to pull from the bookshelf when it comes time to show off the next generation system. One thing I noticed while viewing the film was that close-ups on the actors were softer than some releases and I can assume this is to make the two forty-something actors look their best on camera. There isn´t a lot of visual treats in this film, but I was pleased as I watched the 125 minute long film. Coloring is good and everything looks natural and not overly processed. Black levels and shadow detail is good and there are a few darker moments during the film and thankfully nothing is lost. The source materials used are clean and without blemishes as is the digital transfer.

Audio:

The default English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is another average mark for "Duplicity" on Blu-ray and the soundtrack neither disappoints nor impresses. The six channel mix does what it needs to do to bring the romantic spy comedy drama to the viewer and the lackluster sound design keeps the mix from livening up the viewing experience. The subwoofer is hardly used aside from a few musical notes contained in the James Newton Howard score and the rears contain a little musical bleed and ambient sounds, but not much more. Dialogue is crisp and clear and sound travels very cleanly between the three primary channels as the front heavy mix shows that there is nothing wrong with an average and technically efficient mix. French and Spanish DTS 5.1 mixes are included as well as subtitles in English SDH, Spanish and French.

Extras:

Universal hasn´t put a lot of effort into the value added content of "Duplicity" and this may have something to do with the film´s mediocre performance at the box office. Aside from including the bookmarking My Scenes feature and BD-Live access to the Universal BD-Live Center to view promotional and marketing clips for Universal video and theatrical releases, there isn´t much extra offered on the disc. The only bonus feature beyond these feeble inclusions is a Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Tony Gilroy & Editor/Co-Producer John Gilroy. The two brothers provide an affable commentary on the film with plenty of discussions on the story, actors and the making of the film and most of their discussion is a scene-by-scene commentary. It isn´t the most entertaining commentary, but it´s all that is provided on this next-gen disc.

Closing:

I´m not sure I would recommend "Duplicity" to anybody considering the large number of great films already available on the Blu-ray format, but if anybody was really looking forward to seeing the picture I would not dissuade them from doing so. The Clive Owen and Julia Roberts film is decent enough, but talented writer/director Tony Gilroy went a little overboard in trying to produce a cool film with a plethora of plot twists. The storyline gets just a little too confusing to be easily digestible and this limits its ability to entertain unless you are really in the mood to get very deep into a film. The Blu-ray release is technically proficient with average sight and sound, but the disc is nothing special. You can´t really ask for much from a dialogue driven picture. What is truly disappointing is the limited supplements included on the disc that is essentially a commentary and some worthless familiar inclusions from Universal. The film has its moments and fans of either Owen or Roberts should be pleased.