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it's not you wolverine, it's me. The most deceptive thing about this cliché-ridden film is the fact that it's masquerading as a legit thriller, with the filmmakers expecting us to fall for even the most played-out film conventions. Deception? How about tricking people into paying to watch this bomb...that's deception.
From the get-go Wyatt (Hugh Jackman) and Jonathan (Ewan McGregor) relationship feels staged. The "chance" late-night get-to-know-you antics and smoking pot are laced with excessive laughter and scream "phony." People don't laugh that much with people they have just met, even if they're smoking killer weed. It's just not in our DNA, sorry.
If the film wasn't so predictable, it might've been a fun little flick. But every clue is so transparent that it feels like any plot-twist is telegraphed to you. Once you know where things are going, there will be no more deception-it's all been solidified and handed to you on a silver platter. The clichés force themselves upon the viewer in multitudes: thinly veiled double-crosses, a friendly villain, perplexed cops, a forlorn hot-chick, a do-gooder geek, naughty interludes in swanky hotels, making out in the rain... I could go on.
As the plot un-thickened, leaving gaping holes, I almost enjoyed it in a "it's-so-bad-it's-good" kind of way, but that got squelched fairly quickly. Inevitably, the pointless twists and turns run into each other at a snail's pace in this wannabe thriller. Where is Michael Douglas, all pensive and grinding his jaws, when we need him?
One key gripe must be addressed: why are these guys with Australian or British accents so dead set on doing what they perceive as American accents? It would've been a lot more believable/ entertaining if they stuck to their native tongue.
Deception is the quintessential non-thinking man's puzzle. Even with all the makings, it couldn't even conjure up much of a revenge strategy. I was ready to throw something at the screen during the last ten minutes as the "no-way-this-is-really-on-the-screen" factor started to creep off the scale. The film's psychotic unrequited love triangle and pseudo suspense is all just gratuitous foreplay for the lame climactic shootout, leaving no redeemable ending. It's almost laughable - almost. Just like the surviving characters, I left the theatre shaking my head in disbelief muttering,'How, oh how, could I have been so foolish....'
Deception ★✩✩✩✩
Hugh Jackman, Ewen McGregor, Michelle Williams. Director: Marcel Langenegger. Rated R.
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