DeVito keeps hurling handfuls of well-funded excrement on the screen and expects us to think it's funny.
Comment
10/24/03
Duplex (2003)
37
%
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.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
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... [More]
Starring: Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller, Eileen Essell, Harvey Fierstein
Director: Danny DeVito
Reviews for Duplex
Occasionally, if disturbingly, quite funny.
10/17/03
The interplay between Stiller, Barrymore, and the elderly Essel is what makes Duplex hum perfectly at times.
10/10/03
A controlled farce that finds its cast mining several big laughs while DeVito, the cynic, deepens the dysfunction with a final surprise twist.
10/09/03
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.
10/08/03
...other than a few shining moments, 'Duplex' relies entirely upon juvenile sight gags to generate jokes that really aren't all that amusing.
10/04/03
Although I could have done with a few less gross-out jokes, the film is most definitely funny.
10/03/03
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.
10/02/03
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
10/02/03
Whatever can be said about the rest of the movie, Eileen Essel rates an unqualified 'wow.'
10/01/03
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.
10/01/03
Call it a fixer-upper with potential.
10/01/03
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.
10/01/03
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.
10/01/03
... 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.
09/30/03
Essell is brightly malevolent, and Stiller is perfect as the well-meaning homeowner.
09/30/03
Duplex has its finger on something many of us can relate to, and it milks enough laughs of recognition to earn a moderate recommendation.
09/29/03
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-
09/29/03
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-
09/29/03
One of the most unnerving slapstick extravaganzas I've ever seen.
09/29/03
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