Deception (2008)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Highly Overrated But Still Good

best movie i've ever seen.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The Ultra-Slick and Sexy Noirish Cinematography and Slightly Engaging Performances from the Three Handsome-Cute-Sultry Actors, Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams, make this a Tolerable if Ultimately Flat Erotic Thriller.The Director comes from the World of TV Commercials and His First Feature is about as Deep. The Movie Suffers Irretrievably from its Length, Predictability, and Overall Narrow Mindedness. For Example, the Sex-Scenes are Numerous with a Numbingly Bland Template of Familiar Lingerie Shots and Artsy attempts at being Attractive, but are Generic.Overall, Worth a Watch for Fans of the Stars and those that Gravitate toward the Neo-Noir. Not Awful but Undoubtedly Disappointing because it Lacks Edge and Borderlines on being Dull in between the Good Parts. There are a Few but not enough to Elevate and the Result is an Average Go at the Genre.

This didn't get exceptional reviews but I kind of enjoyed most of it. It was mostly towards the end when the winces of disbelief appeared.It's a suspense story in which naive, dumb, prosperous burgher Ewan McGregor is blackmailed by smiling, psychopathic, murdering Hugh Jackman and sultry but beef-brained Michelle Williams.I don't think I'll give away much of the plot because it's twisted and at the end it explodes into a multitude of flapdoodles.I found the acting to be pretty good. McGregor is entirely believable as the harmless Wall Street. Jackman is strapped into the role of the smiling evildoer and there's not much that he can do with it. Williams is convincing. Lisa Gay Hamilton, an unimpressive physical presence, brings life to the role of the necessary detective. The direction is functional and efficient, without fireworks.However, the plot thins. You have to believe, for instance, that a man and a hooker who have just met are still able to fall so deeply in love that they're willing to kill for one another.You have to believe that a man in a foreign country, without a job or any other source of income, could walk away from twenty million dollars of mob money that no one would miss anyway. I mean, really -- would you?

Although this is advertised as an "erotic thriller" there is nothing thrilling about it and most certainly it isn't erotic.The title should be different. By calling your movie "Deception" you make the audience doubt just about anything from the beginning. The "good" friend obviously has a hidden agenda. The "dead" can't really be dead and so on.It's about an elaborate scam towards an accountant of a big corporation. An anonymous sex club that dominates the beginning of the film, wasn't necessary at all for the scam, and this is a serious indication that the movie is pretentious and just tries to incorporate elements so to become more intriguing.The same goes for the ridiculous twists, one after the other near the end. Twists so to speak, because you can see them coming a mile away.Lots of well known actors in this and they give adequate performances but there are so many flaws plotwise that you can't really take this movie seriously, especially the last 15 minutes or so.The direction doesn't work well either nor the music which sets the tone of the film."Are you free tonight?" is the code line for the secret sex network. Well, I was free, but then I decided to saw this lame movie.

I loved the footage and overall mood of this movie. Michelle Williams is hot as "S" - not a perfect face but very sexy nevertheless. I hope I don't sound too sexist, but she really had something.The plot kept my interest most of the time. I didn't find it as predictable as many other comments suggest.*Spoiler*Some examples: I didn't expect "S" to fall in love with McGuire. I didn't expect him to require double signatures to take out the money. I didn't expect him to leave 20 million USD behind when he could have taken it and walked away. What I did expect, once I knew "S" part of everything, was that McGuire would get the money and the girl - that didn't happen.*End of spoiler*As a thriller, it's about average, but the footage and overall mood lifts it to a higher score, at least in my opinion. (For some reason I, several times, associated it with the computer game Deus EX: Human Evolution).I watched this on TV, and I found it much more exciting and interesting than most of the stuff that is being broad casted today.