DeVito keeps hurling handfuls of well-funded excrement on the screen and expects us to think it's funny.
Duplex (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:105
Fresh:39
Rotten:66
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: It was funnier when it was called Throw Momma From the Train.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for sexual content, language and some violence
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
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... 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]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein, Justin Theroux, Robert Wisdom, James Remar
Director: Danny DeVito
Director: Danny DeVito
Screenwriter: Larry Doyle, John Hamburg
Producer: Stuart Cornfeld, Nancy Juvonen, Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller
Studio: Miramax Films
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Release:
Mar 2, 2004
Reviews for Duplex
The interplay between Stiller, Barrymore, and the elderly Essel is what makes Duplex hum perfectly at times.
A controlled farce that finds its cast mining several big laughs while DeVito, the cynic, deepens the dysfunction with a final surprise twist.
In a show that at least has its brevity going for it, Drew Barrymore and Ben Stiller are wasted in “Duplex.” Its badly constructed plot collapses after the movie goes from silly to tasteless.
...other than a few shining moments, 'Duplex' relies entirely upon juvenile sight gags to generate jokes that really aren't all that amusing.
Although I could have done with a few less gross-out jokes, the film is most definitely funny.
Another DeVito black comedy in which one character tries to knock off another. Stiller and the 81-year-old Essel make worthy adversaries but there's really only one joke here.
Duplex falls into the weaker category of DeVito’s warped wit where the intended mockery fell as flat as a tire riding over an army of thumb tacks...needs some serious renovation in its floors of so-called genuine chuckles
Whatever can be said about the rest of the movie, Eileen Essel rates an unqualified 'wow.'
If you're like me, and you enjoy watching films about the dark side of humanity and still be able to enjoy the characters, this one fits the bill.
The ending, forgoing morbidity for Christmas Eve morality, is a left-field letdown. It’s an upper where it doesn’t need it, but Duplex sure could use some fixing.
Nothing is plausible, and no one is likable. It does not build or flow; it lurches. It isn't funny, because it isn't believable. This isn't entertainment. This is an irritant.
... An inspired black comedy sharing the same roof with a vile, mean-spirited revenge melodrama. Like its bewildered landlords saddled with an impossible tenant, these two unwitting roommates co-habitate uneasily at best.
Essell is brightly malevolent, and Stiller is perfect as the well-meaning homeowner.
Duplex has its finger on something many of us can relate to, and it milks enough laughs of recognition to earn a moderate recommendation.
A sadly appropriate follow-up to DeVito’s Death To Smoochy debacle, Duplex reveals not only the actors’ and filmmakers’ narcissism, but the studios’ arrogance that such a calculated combination of proven talent will necessarily result in box office glory-
A sadly appropriate follow-up to DeVito’s Death To Smoochy debacle, Duplex reveals not only the actors’ and filmmakers’ narcissism, but the studios’ arrogance that such a calculated combination of proven talent will necessarily result in box office glory-
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