Duplex

Duplex follows married couple Alex (Ben Stiller) and Nancy (Drew Barrymore) as they purchase an expansive house in New York City, with problems ensuing as the pair’s upstairs tenant (Eileen Essell’s Mrs. Connelly) quickly establishes herself as a total neighbor from hell. It becomes more and more clear that Duplex marks filmmaker Danny DeVito’s attempt at replicating the success of Throw Momma From The Train, as the movie, to an increasingly distressing degree, comes off as a beat-by-beat remake of that earlier picture – with the narrative detailing the growing acrimony between the protagonists and a seriously hateful older character. This is despite a relatively promising opening stretch buoyed by Stiller and Barrymore’s charismatic work, with the actors’ appealing efforts initially compensating for the less-than-engrossing nature of Larry Doyle’s screenplay. There inevitably reaches a point, however, at which Duplex‘s few positive attributes are rendered moot by its relentless emphasis on unpleasant happenings. It certainly doesn’t help that Doyle employs a tediously episodic structure devoted to Mrs. Connelly’s progressively vicious hijinks, with the lack of laughs only compounding the decidedly disagreeable atmosphere. (DeVito’s penchant for infusing such moments with a palpably over-the-top feel only heightens the vibe of growing desperation). The twist ending that closes out the proceedings is kind of neat, admittedly, although it arrives far too late to compensate for the relentless ineffectiveness of everything preceding it.

*1/2 out of ****