Review: ‘Deception’ fails on promise of erotic thriller

Directed by: Marcel Langenegger

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams

Rated: R

The film genre billed as erotic thriller, like all specialized niches in filmdom, has its share of classics and clunkers.

A prototype is Alfred Hitcock’s 1946 masterpiece “Notorious.”

“Double Indemnity” and the original version of “The Postman Always Rings Twice” were film noir classics.

As more changed over the years, the genre got steamier, evidenced in “Fatal Attraction,” starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas. Douglas showed up again in “Basic Instinct” and pursued heated encounters with Sharon Stone in her sizzling prime.

The latest in the line of this kind of film is “Deception,” directed by first-timer Marcel Langenegger from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, best known for the latest movie in the “Die Hard” franchise.

While the production features three capable, sexy actors – Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams – it seems the writer and director, who comes, like so many new directors, from the world of TV spots, haven’t studied the classics enough. The title is all too appropriate for those expecting to see something more than a ludicrous tale that is neither chilling nor steamy. At best, it’s limp and lukewarm, and the cast is completely wasted.

McGregor plays Jonathan McQuarry, a stereotypical milquetoast character who makes his living as a freelance accountant. Firms hire him temporarily to do quick checks of the books.

While working late on his current job at a high-profile law firm, he meets the hotshot, self-assured and suave lawyer Wyatt Bose (Jackman), who asks him if he’s working late or downloading porn. It’s a painfully lame scene and one of many that telegraph every move in the plot.

Wyatt and Jonathan become immediate friends, share a joint that night in the office, meet at the gym, go to strip joints and have lunch.

After another painful scene wherein the two men’s cell phones get “mistakenly” swapped, Jonathan gets an anonymous call asking him if he is free that night and instructing him where to be, and when.

It seems Jonathan, through the good (or bad) fortune of possessing Wyatt’s cell phone, is now a member of a sex club known as The List. The rules, as he finds from The List’s Madame, played by Charlotte Rampling in a brief cameo, are simple: one, when someone calls and you are up for it, meet them; two, no rough stuff; and three, no names are to be exchanged.

This new turn in Jonathan’s life brings him out of his shell a bit. After a few encounters, he meets a woman he really likes. S, as she’s known to Jonathan, is played by Williams, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in “Brokeback Mountain.”

S turns up missing, and Jonathan files an incredulous police report. When he’s called in to identify a murder victim, he finds not S, but another member on The List.

Then the phone calls and pictures start in from Wyatt. Jonathan still has Wyatt’s cell phone, so at least he’s not getting billed for all of the photo files.

The photos are of a bound and gagged S, and Wyatt tells Jonathan if he ever wants to see her alive again, he will transfer a tidy sum of money from one of his clients to an account controlled by Wyatt.

Anyone who has ever seen a thriller before (or read a comic book) will deduce that Wyatt has a partner and will immediately know who that partner is.

The most “thrilling” scene in this thriller is actually watching the progress bar on Jonathan’s computer as he’s trying to meet Wyatt’s deadline for the money transfer. I suppose there wasn’t a good way to work in a shot of grass growing.

The supposed twists at the end are anything but surprising, and one leaves the film only thinking about being deceived by the promise of an erotic thriller.

New on DVD

On an up note, “The Savages” – which played briefly at The Moxie Cinema in 2007 – just came out on DVD.

If you’ve been affected by the tragedy that is Alzheimer’s disease, you will appreciate (“enjoy” is not really the right word) this at times funny, at times brutal, film. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is always great, is bested by Laura Linney in a career-high watermark with her portrayal of Wendy Savage, a woman struggling with her father’s illness.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield freelance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]