Rolling out the Clichés

Deception isn't all That Deceiving
by Morgan P Salvo

The main thing that’s deceptive about this movie is that by the ending credits, you should be feeling guilty for have been duped into watching it to the bitter end. From the get go, this is just a force-fed concept of someone else’s intolerable version of how we should perceive things. Deception tries to make us believe that we are being fooled, and fails miserably.

Immediately there’s an unbelievable trickery connecting the characters. The first encounter between Wyatt (Hugh Jackman) and Jonathan (Ewen McGregor) is way too staged. The “chance” late-night get-to-know-you antics of background history info and smoking pot define phony. And way too much laughing. No one laughs that much with people they just met even if they’re on killer weed. It’s just not in our DNA - sorry.

Stemming from this male-bonding unfolds the plot: Wyatt is a hot-shot lawyer who befriends nerd-boy accountant Jonathan to be his pal and help him out of his shell, or so we are lead to believe. Wyatt leaves on business and they mistakenly exchange cell phones. Wyatt’s cell contains a phone list to an anonymous sex-club wherein Jonathan scores tons of female encounters merely from a strange woman’s voice simply uttering the line “are you free tonight?” Cut to the sex-fiend montage including Charlotte Rampling and Natasha Henstridge still getting naked after all these years. Enter “S” (Michele Williams looking amazingly hot). Participants in the sex-club are not allowed to divulge personal info but “S” and Jonathan, breaking all the rules, get to like each other. “S” disappears and a list-chick is murdered, introducing two of the most unbelievable cops in film history. Jonathan’s mission becomes finding “S” going head to head with Wyatt.
If wasn’t so predictable in its attempt to deceive it might’ve been a fun little flick. But every clue is so transparent it feels like any plot-twist is telegraphed to you. It’s painfully obvious what’s going on. Once you know where it’s going there will be no more deception—it’s all been solidified and handed to you on a silver platter. The clichés force themselves upon you at endless intermittent multitudes: thinly veiled double-crosses, friendly villain, perplexed cops, forlorn hot-chick, do-gooder geek, naughty interludes in swanky hotels, seeing how the rich get it done prostitution-style, making out in the rain—yes, it’s endless alright.

As the plot un-thickened and left gaping holes I almost enjoyed the path it was taking in a “it’s-so-bad-it’s-good” kind of way, but that got squelched fairly quickly. After an apartment explosion all bets were off: it really started to suck. Inevitably the pointless twists and turns run into each other at this snail’s pace wannabe thriller. Where is Michael Douglas, all pensive and grinding his jaws, when we need him?
Two key gripes have to be addressed: Despite all the actor’s walk-thru performances, why are these guys with Australian or British accents so dead set on doing what they perceive as American accents? It would’ve been a lot more believable/ entertaining if they stuck to their native tongue. And where do people get these “no-problem” passports? --- I want one...

Deception is the quintessential non-thinking man’s puzzle. Even with all the makings, couldn’t even conjure up a really good revenge strategy. I was ready to throw something at the screen during the last ten minutes---the “no-way-this-is-really-on-the-screen” factor is way too abundant. Its psychotic unrequited love triangle and pseudo suspense is all just gratuitous foreplay for the lame climactic shoot-out leaving no redeemable ending. It’s almost laughable – almost. Just like the surviving characters, I left the theatre shaking my head in disbelief muttering: how, oh how could I have been so foolish….

Deception
Hugh Jackman, Ewen McGregor, Michelle Williams
Director: Marcel Langenegger
 1 star