Deception (2008, Marcel Langenegger)

During the late 80s and early 90s, erotic cinema such as Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction were riding a brief wave of popularity, which vanished as quickly as it began; much to the joy of cinema goers the world over. So, it is with a heavy heart that I review Deception, which is a risible erotic thriller from 2008 starring Ewan McGregor and Hugh Jackman, who also acts as one of the films producer. Quite how such an appalling potboiler could attract such A-list stars is beyond me, but I imagine in Jackman's case, it was so he could play a bad guy for once.

McGregor plays Jonathan McQuarry, an auditor, working temporarily at a New York lawfirm, who finds that life is passing him by. He has no friends, no family, and worst of all, he has not had sex for a long time (oh, the horror). One night, he meets a lawyer named Wyatt (Hugh Jackman), who is everything that Jonathan is not. He is witty, charming, rich, and best of all, he knows how to attract women, much to the envy of Jonathan. The day before Wyatt is to go on a business trip to London, Jonathan and Wyatt accidentally pick up each other's phones, due to the contrivance that they have the same brand of phone. So, with Jonathan having Wyatt's phone, and vice versa, Jonathan starts getting calls from anonymous women who are part of a sex club known as "The List", in which Jonathan gleefully indulges himself. Unfortunately, trouble starts brewing when Jonathan falls in love with one of the girls, known only as "S" (Michelle Williams), who disappears without a trace only a few days after their first meeting. The next evening, Jonathan gets a call from Wyatt who reveals his true intentions are much more sinister than he first revealed.

As a fan of McGregor's, I remember following this film briefly throughout its pre-production, and I can say with some certainty that 20^th Century Fox, the film’s production company tried to bury this piece of work. Firstly, it was titled "The Tourist", later it was re-titled "The List", only to eventually settle on the completely generic title, Deception, which goes to show the studios lack of trust in the film. Other than that, it was originally not press screened for critics, only to be eventually given a screening less than half a week before it was due to open. Rumour has it that Hugh Jackman's production company, "Seed Productions" insisted that this be widely released in cinemas, and that at least $10 million was to be put into the film's marketing budget. 

So, if its own studio had no faith in it, then how bad must it be? Well, let us start by dissecting the characters, shall we? Firstly, our protagonist, Jonathan, who is meant to be sympathetic, as his bashfulness makes him easy prey for someone like Wyatt. However, it is hard to sympathise with a character that spends the majority of a film stalking his “dream” girl, played by Michelle Williams, while taking advantage of a friend's membership of a sex club. He is also a fairly wet blanket of a character, with little actual characterisation or personality. For example, we only know he is geeky simply because he has a side parting and wears glasses. Ewan McGregor's performance is also uncharacteristically awful, which is a shame, since he is usually a very engaging screen presence. This weak characterisation can also be applied to Wyatt, as he is nothing more than a cluster of clichés posing as a character. As I previously mentioned, he is charming, successful with women and has a sharp dress sense. In short, everything you would expect from a smug, villainous lawyer. Michelle Williams is sorely miscast as "S", yet she does attempt to make what she can with such a weak character. It is a testament to her skills as an actor that she make a role, which is meant to be nothing more than a sexpot, make any sort of impact at all.

Now, let us, move on from weak characterisation, to the film’s questionable sexual politics. While this is marketed as an "erotic thriller", there is really nothing erotic about watching Ewan McGregor writhe with models dressed in the most ridiculous underwear you have ever seen. It is not as if I am expecting much from the genre, yet the women here are completely disposable, both literally and metaphorically. In one scene, Wyatt is able to threaten Jonathan by slitting the throat of a girl named Simone (Natasha Henstridge), who was the first “list” member that Jonathan slept with. Knowing that Marcel Langenegger was, before directing this, most prolific as a director of perfume adverts is unsurprising, since the entire film has a metallic, hollow feeling to it, with little understanding of how humans actually interact. Everyone on "The List" is an urban professional who has no time for relationships during the day, and uses the sex club as release. Even in the realms of erotic fiction, this is silly, and feels less like a movie and more like something you would find on a bookshelf next to Fifty Shades of Grey.

Although, regardless of its many flaws, Dante Spinotti’s photography is appropriately steely and he puts New York’s subway stations and skyline to good use. What works less well is when the film shifts gears and uproots the story to Milan, and suddenly the Italian streets look very much like a tourist promotion. Other than the photography, there is not a whole lot which is recommendable about this film, and it is frankly embarrassing to see such a talented cast wasted in piffle like this. Perhaps the worst piece of casting is Charlotte Rampling, playing a character known only as “Wall Street Belle”, whose main goal in the film is to introduce Jonathan to the rules of the sex club. Never has the phrase, “you deserve better than this” been shouted so loudly as when she first appears on the screen.

In conclusion, this is a silly movie, with a plot recycled from a dozen “erotic” movies that were released between 1985 and 1995; except without the benefit that this particular genre was profitable then. This is a film that was used as a stepping stone for Jackman, who cynically uses his first producing credit to play the villain, and as a mere paycheque for McGregor, Williams and Rampling. Not the worst film ever made, by any stretch of the imagination, but the notion anyone would want to see an erotic film which lacks heat, passion or even sexuality, is beyond me.

3/10