Deception (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / June 17, 2008

“Deception” might have been a better movie had its trailer not spoiled all its surprises. I realize it’s rather cliché to gripe about movie previews “giving away too much,” but in this case the spoiling is blatant.

Basically, we know where the entire movie is going from the moment it begins. I’m sure if I could have gone into “Deception” cold, I would have thought more of it. If you haven’t seen the trailers, you could probably call it “Good.” For those who are still in the dark about the premise revealed in the previews, I’ll summarize the plot gingerly.

Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) is a lonely, friendless man. There’s nothing wrong with him, per se; he simply leads an unexciting life. Jonathan is an audit manager who crunches the numbers at big companies, making sure everything adds up as it should.

But it is through this job that Jonathan meets Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman), his antithesis. Wyatt is a charismatic, influential lawyer with an exciting life. Wyatt belongs to a sex club where the members receive anonymous phone calls from a list of willing, one-night-stand lovers. No names are exchanged; it’s just physical and that’s that: It’s “intimacy without intricacy for people that are too busy for love.”

Needless to say, Jonathan is dazzled by his new friend’s lifestyle. One day the two accidentally switch cell phones right before Wyatt takes a trip overseas to London. Now, Jonathan is in the driver’s seat of Wyatt’s exhilarating life. Best of all, Wyatt doesn’t mind one bit.

Well, that’s about as far as I’ll describe, except for one last thing: Wyatt’s lifestyle has dire consequences for Jonathan; when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

With a premise like this, you’re probably wondering about the film’s sexual content. Though it sounds more prevalent, the sex club is merely a vehicle or a subplot to help carry the plot along. Even so, there are a couple semi-graphic sexual scenes, so “Deception” deserves its R-rating.

But when it’s all said and done, “Deception” is far too contrived, which means it’s so unlikely that these events would ever happen to someone that the movie loses its power of suspense. We know we are being toyed with by a work of pure fiction. As we watch “Deception,” we are not effectively drawn into the drama surrounding the characters. We are not, in fact, deceived … unless you count being duped into buying a ticket to see this movie.

Directed by Marcel Langenegger
Hugh Jackman / Ewan McGregor / Michelle Williams
Drama / Mystery 108 min.
MPAA: R (for sexual content, language, brief violence and some drug use)

U.S. Release Date: April 25, 2008
Copyright 2008: 286