Deception

Some things in life make sense, and others, we just weren’t meant to understand. Deception is a film that seems to fall into the latter category. It follows Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor), a bored accountant who merely goes through the motions of life, until one day, he meets Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman), a lawyer at a firm he audits. They become acquainted while under the influence of mild-altering drugs, the sparks fly, and they live happily ever after…. Not!

Well, it wouldn’t be called Deception if it were that easy, right? Bose introduces his new friend, who appears to have little luck with the ladies, to an anonymous sex club they call The List, and then things get complicated. Rendezvous with Charlotte Rampling, Michelle Williams, and Maggie Q, as well as intrigue and money laundering ensue. And, as the movie promoters would have you think, nothing is as it appears.

Now, the idea might be somewhat interesting, and about 50% of those “nothing is as it appears” movies tend to actually be reasonably good. Sadly for this film, it fell to the other half of the good/bad divide. The lovely cast-members were painfully wasted on this unfortunate script. Even the fun lines were painful to hear.

The plot was full of holes and character development was close to nil. Even worse, all the twists and turns they’d hoped would impress you were unexciting and relatively predictable. On the plus side, I did enjoy the slick production values, which leaves you with a glassy, Mies van der Rohe, “shot in Chicago” feel in this New York-based film. But ultimately, this is a disappointing story with disappointing dialogue, and an ending that leaves you asking, “Why did I just watch this?”

Also, was it just me, or was Hugh Jackman’s American accent just a bit off the entire time? It appeared to improve as the movie went on, but still, it was yet another distraction in a movie I could hardly get into in the first place.

Note: This review is cross-posted at The Natty Reviewer. For more reviews, please hop on over to our new review blog, run with Miss MX. Movies, music, books, food, and who knows what. Nothing shall be left un-criticized!

Joy in our everyday lives is one such thing….

It’s still cold and drizzly in back here in New York, but I discovered that there are cherry blossoms nearby too! I saw this just a few hours ago, only minutes from my apartment. Isn’t it amazing how we oftentimes miss the beauty that surrounds us?

And these days, mobile technology is another.

In other news, some of you might have noticed how distressed I’ve been for the past two days. Have no fear, it’s not life-threatening, in the traditional sense, but the emotional strain has been immense. You see, it was my beloved BlackBerry 8120. On Wednesday night, it suddenly stopped working. Well, not the entire thing, just the trackball. But a BlackBerry Pearl with no pearl is basically non-functional. So I’ve spent the better part of yesterday and this afternoon trying to set things in order.

And to give credit where credit’s due, T-mobile, my kind and gracious mobile carrier happily took back my old BB and sent out a replacement device, which was shipped to me overnight. So now, I’m back in full force. That doesn’t mean, however, that I’m happy about the 4 hours I spent trying to reconfigure my new BB so that all my settings were in place just as before. I know, I know… Humans are creatures of habit, but we are creatures capable of change as well. But I like my wallpaper just the way it was, thank you!

It’s funny. For a few hours yesterday, as I awaited my replacement Berry, I tried to make do with a backup phone. Now, personally, I rather like the Motorola Razr — it is a sturdy phone that served me well. But after owning a smartphone, I just couldn’t go back. No email, no Google Talk, no Ka-Glom, and worst of all, no UMA (A.K.A. mobile access over Wi-Fi). I tried to download the Gmail application, but I had next to no reception. I couldn’t even send a text message properly.

It was then that I knew… Without my BB, I was nothing!