Rating: 
Summary: Danny Devito Does It Again!
Review: The first film that Danny DeVito directed, that I saw, was "The War of the Roses." I thought it was a decent movie, but not as good as a recent film of his "Death to Smoochy." His most recent film is "Duplex," a dark comedy starring Drew Barrymoore and Ben Stiller. I thought that this movie was a brilliant comedy that Stiller and Barrymoore were perfect for. It was funny, smart, and had a final surprise at the end that is obvious, but works. It was a short movie of about eighty nine minutes, and in that time Devito fits in various slapstick comedy, violence, and a very interesting story that makes you laugh as well as a load of fun.The movie has Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymoore as Alex and Nancy, a non-married couple who have just bought a duplex in Brooklyn, with the help of their realtor Kenneth. They don't seem to mind that the duplex comes with a rent-controlled tenent Mrs.Connelly who is very old and "seems to be getting a little sick." Alex and Nancy think that she will soon be dead and they could have the entire duplex, but what they think changes very shortly. Alex is a writer working on his second novel, that is due in just a couple of weeks, and Nancy works for Herman, her demanding boss. Mrs. Connelly's hard of hearing leads to the TV to be up on full volume late in the night, and her living room is directly above Alex and Nancy's bedroom. She constantly asked Alex to help her run errands, to the point where the couple tries to get her to move back to Ireland. She agrees, but soon she believes that Alex is a sexual predator, leading to the involvment of Officer Dan. When not moving back to Ireland, Alex and Nancy finally come to the point of deciding to kill Mrs. Connelly, with the help of a hit-man Chuck. Although Mrs.Connelly is annoying, the only thing that you can think about is that she is just a sweet little old lady. I'm sure that most of you have been in contact with people who complain alot, and have televisions up all the way, and although it is annoying, you feel bad for them. But you can feel Alex and Nancy's pain because of the great acting by the women who plays Mrs. Connelly. She makes everything she does sweet and annoying. "Duplex" is a very entertaining and very funny story that is a very notable film of 2003. It is worth every penny of a theatre ticket, even if it is paying full price. I really enjoyed the comedic situations that Alex and Nancy face while trying to kill Mrs. Connelly, and their acting while doing that is perfect. It's funny, and fresh. ENJOY! Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and some violence.
Rating: 
Summary: Does it get funny the second time around?
Review: I really think that this is one of those movies that gets better the more times that you watch it. Being a huge Ben & Drew fan, I was entertained but I felt like I had to force the laughs. A dark comedy about an old lady who lives upstairs making the landlord's miserable with her loud tv/music, parrot and constant complaints. Enter the thought of killing the old lady. Similar to the she-nan-igans in Home Alone, the schemes backfire on the two over...and over....and over....and over again.
Rating:
Summary: dark comedy, not a slapstick to me
Review: it is a good dark comedy to me. i liked War of the Roses and Death Becomes Her, and I like Duplex too. some people think this is slapstick, but I don't feel it that way. Seven Sumarai, on the other hand, I feel is very slapstick... wonder why Seven Sumarai is an all time top movie but Duplex is not... this truly beats me.
Rating: 
Summary: Being Duped
Review: Ben Stiller has carved out quite a film career playing the hapless schlub that everyone can feel sorry for. Drew Barrymore has been trying to divide her time between romantic comedies and Charlie's Angels sequels. Together the pair teams with director Danny DeVito, for Duplex, a comedy that suffers from been there done that syndrome. Alex Rose (Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Barrymore) are a loving New York City couple in search of their dream house. After looking around for a while, the duo falls head over heels for a converted duplex apartment, in the perfect neighborhood. The only problem is that sweet little old Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essel)is currently living there and refuses to move. Desparate to get what they want, Alex and Nancy try make her leave...or else they will kill her. I was rather suprised at just how much the plot of Duplex mirrored DeVito's own, and far superior I might add, Throw Momma From The Train. Stiller is always good for a laugh, Barrymore is fine too, but the material is not. Practically, the entire film left me with a sense of deja vu between Momma and say Money Pit, with Tom Hanks, right down to some of the stunt sequences. I like a good dark comedy now and then, I just was hoping for some that was a bit more than a film with two recycled plots. The movie is sparkless, save for a few Stiller and Barrymore moments. The DVD extras are both few in number and lacking in their content. The behind-the-scenes featurette is your standard, by the numbers, electronic press kit piece of fluff. The deleted scenes would not have added anything to the film, had they not been edited out, so that as they say is that. If you must watch Duplex at all, at least you have a choice between the full-screen, or widescreen formats. Does that even matter though? Duplex disappoints, no matter which way you decide to see it...If you must--only as a rental.
Rating:
Summary: It's okay, some funny moments, but not great
Review: I've become a Ben Stiller fan after seeing him in There's Something about Mary. He is funny, and I like Drew Berrymore. I thought this movie would be a lot funnier. The movie is about a husband and wife looking for their home and inheriting a neighbor that is a pain!!! She is an elderly lady who has to count everything, and has a little mean streak. The couple try to devise ways of getting her to move out and all their plans backfire. I'm not one for movie extras so I could really care less about that, but the movie was okay.
Rating: 
Summary: Annoying movie plot, DO NOT watch it
Review: This movie is an exact copy of Tom and Jerry. Jerry always won and Tom is actually the victim. Seriously, this kind of plot is dumb and lame, if I want to make someone misery I can do it in a blink of eye, not to mention the opponent is an ancient ugly woman. I knew something is going on with the agent, cop and the ugly old one, it was too obvious. But this movie does give us one helpful advise, DO NOT trust any old ancient human, they are not what they seem, DO NOT give them respect unless you really know who they really are. Appearance can be deceiving.
Rating:
Summary: Upstairs, Downstairs, Overkill
Review: I like Ben Stiller and black comedies as much as the next person, more probably, depending on who I'm sitting beside. For example at a Ben Stiller convention I'd feel a little out of my depth, but if i were in church then...never mind.
Duplex is a nice little New York movie, with jokes about the New York housing market and the joys of apartment living, but it never really feels like more than a series of sketches. The humor is too slow to be truly dark, and the ending is too ridiculous to be unbelievable - some reviewers maintain it was too obvious. I would like to know if they're by any chance clairvoyant? At the risk of including SPOILERS, would you really set your 90yr old grandmother up in a situation where she could get murdered in order to resell a house to make another 2% commission? NP, that's far fetched and unexpected. Drew Barrymore continues a string of good performance, but all-in-all the movie plays like an afterthought. Perhaps Stiller needs to rethink his views on quality over quantity...
Rating:
Summary: A Low For Danny DeVito
Review: Ben Stiller reprises his role as the arguably lovable dope and Drew Barrymore plays his ever-so-sweet wife in this boring romp through first time home ownership. Stiller is simply annoying as the frenzied writer who cannot work due to the sweet old lady who lives in the rent control duplex above them. Barrymore is considerably more likeable, but it's not enough. The old lady upstairs is enough to make you grit your teeth during this film. Director Danny Devito has produced some fine comedy over the years, ("War of the Roses", "Throw Momma From the Train"), but this is predictable, Hollywood formulaic slop. Even the idea of owners resorting to (possibly) murdering their elderly tenant is not amusing and with Stiller and Barrymore, not even believable. It's not much of a comedy and the twist ending is very ho-hum. (Gee, I couldn't see that one coming!) The featurette is equally trite and the deleted scenes bare proof to why scenes are actually deleted. Next film, please!
Rating:
Summary: Some Decent Humor but overall flop
Review: It is a dark comedy and had some decent funny moments, but the movie has some half-baked moments as well. No doubt the old lady tenant in the movie is severely irritating, but a lot of the jokes have been either over done or are really gross. I don't recommend eating while watching this movie. Stiller and Barrymore have done smarter comedies and smarter movies. Danny DeVito is a great director, but the movie was a bit to raunchy for my taste. Skip it.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable; spins out of control
Review: Despite a surprising amount of laugh-out loud moments, "The Duplex" ultimately fails because it spins out of control. I love black comedy as much as the next guy, but even in the whackiest of out-of-control black comedy plots the characters have to be believable. Plots require that characters do the unexpected; but the unexpected must be within character. It's a fine line, something that DeVito dances along surperbly in "The War of the Roses," but fumbles here. When Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Drew Berrymore) decide to kill their upstairs tenant - well, let's just say the idea of the two starry-eyed idealists sneaking around a Brooklyn apartment with murder on their mind feels patently ridiculous. They don't "earn" it. I just didn't buy it. And all the smothering, harpooning, and booby-trapping that follows. Kendricks especially doesn't feel right because Berrymore is miscast. Stiller is perfect for the movie. He's excellent at characters who barely suppress rage. It makes sense Rose would snap. But Berrymore plays characters who are light and optimistic, despite all the bad things that have happened to her. It's that tension between her simplicity now and her dark, complex past that creates laughs (see "Charlie's Angels"). But it's the script that's the biggest failure. It feels like a pastiche of funny moments loosely based on an amusing premise. The scenes don't lead well into one another. It's stilted and unbelievable. It jolted me from the movie, made me aware I was watching a movie. But what did we expect from screenwriter Larry Doyle, whose credits before this comprise "The Simpsons" and "Beavis and Butt-Head"? Replace Rose and Kendricks with Beavis and Butt-Head, and we've got a movie here.
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