Duplex (2003)
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Theatrical Release: Sep 26, 2003 Wide
Box Office: $9,652,000
Synopsis: Danny DeVito directs Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore in this devilish black comedy reminiscent of DeVito's THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN and THE WAR OF THE ROSES. Alex Rose (Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Barrymore) are a young, professional, New York couple in search of their dream home. When... Danny DeVito directs Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore in this devilish black comedy reminiscent of DeVito's THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN and THE WAR OF THE ROSES. Alex Rose (Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Barrymore) are a young, professional, New York couple in search of their dream home. When they finally find the perfect Brooklyn brownstone they are giddy with anticipation. The duplex is a dream come true, complete with multiple fireplaces, except for one thing: Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel), the cranky old lady who lives on the rent-controlled top floor. Assuming she is elderly and ill, they take the apartment but their hopes are quickly dashed when they realize that Mrs. Connelly is an energetic senior who enjoys watching her television at top volume day in and day out and rehearsing in a brass band. A writer, Alex, is attempting to finish his novel against a looming deadline. However, each day as he begins to write, he is interrupted by Mrs. Connelly's numerous demands and requests and what begins as a nuisance quickly escalates into an all-out war. When Nancy loses her job and the pair are trapped at home together with Mrs. Connelly, their rage turns to homicidal fantasy as they plot ways to get rid of their no-good neighbor. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore are pitch perfect as a good-natured couple who, like most DeVito characters, are driven by rage to do very bad things. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux
Screenwriter: Larry Doyle, John Hamburg
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld, Nancy Juvonen, Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Expecting Stiller to look stressed and Barrymore to look sweet isn't exactly demanding too much of your stars.,
Offer[ed] as a grown-up variation of the kind of fart-and-vomit humor that's passed around at the cineplex every day. But why? It is what it is.
Contando com um bom desfecho (algo raro nos dias de hoje), Duplex representa um passatempo razoável.
There's a nice dark comedy in this script that's flattened by DeVito's direction, which continually opts for manic goofiness and cruel vulgarity.
Duplex collapses in rubble long before the duplex of the film does, and it’s not even interesting wreckage.
not since 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane,' has geriatric terrorism been so creepy.
Had Danny DeVito been born British and a quarter-century earlier, he would have fit right in at Ealing Studios, the English outfit known for biting black comedies.
A controlled farce that finds its cast mining several big laughs while DeVito, the cynic, deepens the dysfunction with a final surprise twist.
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