Manipulation

The thriller genre has been well explored and perfected over decades of cinema. While some familiar elements and conventions are to be expected in a new release, you would expect, at the very least, that a new entry tops the previous ones.

And sadly, Deception does not. The movie almost feels like a remake of Curtis Hanson's Bad Influence. A movie that was made almost twenty years ago and features two main characters that are carbon copies of those of McGregor and Jackman, only they were played respectively by James Spader and Rob Lowe.

Whatever "twists" are found in Deception, you see them coming from a mile and they fall flat. The acting? Everybody seems to be cashing his check. One-dimensional characters and an aimless plot make for a boring two hours. Even the "list" subplot feels tacked on and doesn't even provide any enjoyment, nor does it add anything to the film.

The photography is amazing but this is truly a poor Hollywood movie and one that you will be better off passing on, unless you are a die-hard fan of the genre or one of the main actors featured. All in all, a tremendous waste of talent and resources due to a crappy script.

This movie is supposed to be a thriller, but is unfortunately quite short of "thrills".

My biggest complaint would be the movie's pace - it is very slow, and at times quite boring.

There are far too many implausabilities and plot holes, but even if you suspend your disbelief and just accept the story being told, it's still not a very good movie.

The script just isn't very good.

This is by no means the worst movie ever, however if you're looking for a GOOD thriller, I would not recommend this movie as one.

It's a shame really, because Hugh needs another good movie to boost his career. His last few have not been critical or box office smash hits (save the X-Men franchise), and I'm starting to seriously doubt his ability to pick good scripts. Hopefully "Australia" will turn his sadly not- so-good streak around.

The writing and direction here are solid, but unspectacular, and if that were all there was, the movie, too, would be unspectacular. But what drives the entire endeavor is the acting. Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor are among that small group of actors who never give a bad performance, and that's certainly the case here. Michelle Williams, though, is another matter altogether: she is SO good, and SO deep, and SO nuanced, that she rises above what she had been in the past and simply makes this movie her own. Hers is one of those performances (there are two scenes where she delivers voluminous messages simply by a look, without a single word) that make you wholly reevaluate the actor's skill and intelligence; at least, it did that for me: I changed my opinion of her and her abilities, and I won't be able to look at her again in the way I had before. And I like experiencing that, so I like the movie much more for that fact. If you're a Michelle Williams fan, you really HAVE to see this film.

The trailer of this movie looked interesting.

The story is about an accountant Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman) who meets Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) – who in turn introduces Wyatt to a secret sex club. Wyatt falls in love with one of his acquaintances S (Michelle Williams) and gets involved in a blackmail by Jonathan who wants Wyatt to transfer a huge sum from a few bank account to Spain. Wyatt does that. Jonathan plants a bomb and kills Wyatt. I will leave the story here and not play spoilt sports.

The story starts with a psychological angle, moves to sexual contours, deceive, and blackmail. The movie moves slowly throughout, gains maximum interest in the deceiving part – holds your attention, but remaining times – it is just a usual dull affair.

Both Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor look great and act well. But the style of narration does not build up that interest to make a great cinema of a good story like this.

First time director Marcel Langenegger does a decent job in delivering a visually good cinema – good closeups, good acting, good music, good movements of camera – I think he has a good eye for making better movies.

I think there is a problem with the scripting of the movie. It takes the first 40 minutes to build the story, and gives 10 minutes of interest and falls back to a mundane thriller.

My rating started from 4.5 at the beginning of the movie, increased to 6.5 when it reached the deceive part, but pulmetted down to 5 by the end of the movie.

(Star 4.75 out of 10)

Its not perfect by no means, the script has much to be desired and at times the acting was unconvincing. But when I went into the Cinema I wasn't expecting anything mind-blowing, in fact I wasn't expecting anything at all. Surprisingly I didn't seam to find the movie overly predictable, however at times its dramatically far fetched. Notably the complete stupidity of a shooting occurring in broad day light in a busy European city going unnoticed. All this being said, the movie is entertaining. I wasn't at any moment particularly board with its rather slow beginning moving on to a fast paces final hour. Surprisingly Ewan McGregor seamed to portray the role fairly well with the exception of a few noticeable accent slips. Michelle Williams on the other hand has much to be desired. In no way am I suggesting she's a great actress but I was surprised at how unconvincingly she portrays a rather simple role. Its definitely a mixed bag, where on one hand its very engaging and on the other it has obvious flaws. I recommend it, you'll be thoroughly entertained but try not going in the theatre expecting to much.