Deception
Cast : Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor
Direction : Marcel Langenegger
Rating : **
He (McGregor) is a workaholic Manhattan audit manager. And she (Michelle Williams) is a high-flying woman he meets at an elite dating club. Debutant director Langenegger makes a mess of the erotic thriller.
Far more stylish and convincing material has been seen down the decades. In addition, the dramaturgy has some similarities with Oliver Stone’s Wall Street (1987).
Cut then, if you must, to an auditor who discovers that he has been set up by his lawyer pal (Jackman) to embezzle $20 million corporation funds. Murder could be on the agenda too. The extended finale, set for no apparent reason in Madrid, is as preposterously implausible as they come.
Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor are serviceable. Michelle Williams is alluring enough. But old-timer Charlotte Rampling is wasted in the cameo of a super-rich swinger. All seen and shuddered, Deception is an exhausting, cliché-packed experience.