No one likes to see a bad movie get made, in spite of the overwhelming number of them that come out each year. Film crews work long, hard hours to attempt to deliver good product to a public hungry for new entertainment. The problem is, that while the majority of blame for a bad film can and should rest on the shoulders of its director, there is a reason actors act, directors direct, and producers produce. And when an actor turns producer--as is the case of Hugh Jackman(The Prestige, the X-Men trilogy) seeding his ego by getting his pet project Deception made, we end up with what is known as a vanity project.
To be fair, Deception--produced by 20th Century Fox in order to appease Jackman into accepting the role of Wolverine for a fourth time--isn't a true vanity project, in the sense that the focus isn't mostly on his character. It's on Ewan McGregor(the new Star Wars trilogy, Big Fish), who plays Jonathan McQuarry, an accountant who does nothing but work long hours, and feels that life is passing him by. Jon's life is so lonely that he can only look on wistfully during his late hours at the office as a cleaning man and a cleaning woman sneak into a men's room to have a quickie. It's on one of those late nights that a lawyer by the name of Wyatt Bose(Jackman) happens to be working late as well and stops in on his way out to say hello. Following some brief, awkward conversation, Wyatt offers Jon a joint to loosen up, and under the influence, Jon unburdens himself as to what's missing in his life.
The two make an appointment to hang out the following night, and once they do, they become fast friends. While Wyatt doesn't talk much about his business, Jon tells him all about his own life, and in return Wyatt helps Jon loosen up by taking him to lunch, clubs and doubles tennis dates. The friendship seems to flow naturally for the most part, but some areas of the script by Mark Bomback(Live Free or Die Hard, Godsend) definitely need touching up. While the trailers make it clear that part of the story deals with sexual intrigue, it's implicit that such is between Ewan and different women, and Hugh and different women--not between the guys. During an early part of getting to know each other, there are scenes both in a club and especially in a shared cab ride that carry definite(and more than likely unintention-al) homoerotic undertones, wherein one expects Wyatt to make a move on clueless Jonathan. Don't get me wrong; I'm not seeing things here, nor do I have any such phobias. In fact, I would applaud a film starring two mainstream actors in such a story, if the material were handled properly. We haven't had such a film since Antonio Banderas and Tom Hanks in Philadelphia. But between Bomback's inept script and the listless direction by Marcel Langenegger(making his debut with this film), the boundaries are not as clear in this instance as they should be.
Boundaries are exactly a large part of what Deception is supposed to be about: the boundaries we adhere to in our daily lives, what happens when we cross them, and how far we'll force ourselves to push past them in order to achieve our goals. During lunch one day, Wyatt and Jon's phones accidentally get switched, and Jon begins receiving mysteri-ous calls intended for his friend, each one by a different sensual-sounding woman, whose only question is "Are you free tonight?". Jon finally chooses to forego his shyness and take up one of the women on their offer to meet in a hotel. When he arrives, he's greeted by a sexy woman played by Natasha Henstridge, famous mostly for taking her clothes off in Species, and her run on the abominably laughable She Spies. To the delight of many males, Hen-stridge somehow manages to appear nude again(though mostly from the back), and she and Jon get down and dirty. Wearing a Kool-Aid grin the next day, he finally hears from Wyatt, who's in England on business and tells him to enjoy the use of the phone, which he does several times. It turns out Wyatt belongs to an exclusive sex club known only as The List, where members meet when they want to get their groove on, the only fee being that footed for the hotel room by the person initiating contact.
Finally, Jon manages to hook up with a mysterious young woman known only as "S", played by Michelle Williams(I'm Not There, Brokeback Mountain), whom it turns out he had seen on a train at one time but was too shy to talk to. The two seem to have an instant connection beyond the rules of the club, but after Jon returns to their hotel room after fetching a bucket of ice to find blood on the sheets and himself cold-cocked by an unknown assailant, he starts to realize that he might be in deeper than he ever suspected.
Deception is one of those films that, had a more compet-ent writer than the one responsible for the unforgettably bad Godsend not been attached, and a first-timer like Langenegger not been at the helm, would have had at least a fighting chance to rise above the level of a grade-C thrill-er. Absolutely predictable from beginning to end(and with not much going for it in the way of sexual titillation, violence or action beyond some swearing, it could've been rated a strong PG-13), the movie is a head slapping embarrass-ment to its cast, who manage to turn in good performances in spite of the dreck in which they're entangled. Even an appearance by Maggie Q(Balls of Fury, Mission: Impossible III) as a List member who dishes the dirt on Wyatt doesn't help. The only true saving grace for the film(if there can even be one) is Ewan McGregor, who is the lynchpin of the film and ably holds his own against the usually versatile and capable Jackman, who seems almost uncomfortable in certain scenes with playing the villain of the picture.
If indeed Jackman was uncomfortable playing a villain, then he shouldn't have taken this role. In fact, it's virtually impossible to see why he would have even championed a batch of nonsensical tripe like this. And if this is the type of film he does like to produce, then put aside all hopes for the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which lists Jack-man as a producer, and which it's well known he's had a major hand in developing. If Deception is any indication at all, he should leave the choosing of which films he appears in--and especially the producing--to more capable folks than himself.
Official Archives of LanceReviews...
Don't fall for this DECEPTION
A strong cast gets mired down in a murky, senseless "thriller"...
Don't be fooled: Deception is one colossal waste of time.
McGregor(right) lowers himself to a Michelle Williams(left) level of acting choices by appearing with her in this heavy-handed stinker.
"And I swear, Hugh, there are days when...when taking a role like this makes me wish so much that Dawson's Creek hadn't gone off the air."
"No, I'm perfectly fine with letting Ewan take center stage and have more screen time."
"Hey, now hold on just a damn second, here--!"
"Don't worry, Michelle...I promise, all your scenes will be left on the cutting room floor. No one will ever know you were in this!"
