Deception main backdrop
Deception main poster

Deception

Visit website

5.9/10 • 664

2008-04-241h 47m

ThrillerMystery

When you're in this world, no one is who they seem, and everyone is playing the game.

As a corporate auditor who works in a number of different offices, Jonathan McQuarry wanders without an anchor among New York's power brokers. A chance meeting with charismatic lawyer Wyatt Bose leads to Jonathan's introduction to The List, an underground sex club. Jonathan begins an affair with a woman known only as S, who introduces Jonathan to a world of treachery and murder.

Directors
Marcel Langenegger
Writters
Mark Bomback
Editors
Mark Bomback, Douglas Crise

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Ewan McGregor

    Ewan McGregor

    Jonathan McQuarry

  2. Hugh Jackman

    Hugh Jackman

    Wyatt Bose

  3. Michelle Williams

    Michelle Williams

    S

  4. Natasha Henstridge

    Natasha Henstridge

    Simone Wilkinson

  5. Charlotte Rampling

    Charlotte Rampling

    Wall Street Belle

  6. Bruce Altman

    Bruce Altman

    Lawyer #1

  7. Andrew Ginsburg

    Andrew Ginsburg

    Lawyer #2

  8. Stephanie Roth Haberle

    Stephanie Roth Haberle

    Assistant Controller

  9. Dante Spinotti

    Dante Spinotti

    Herr Kleiner / Mr. Moretti

Reviews2

View Reviews
John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Oct 23, 2017

5/10

Sunbeam and Bashful Boy. Deception is directed by Marcel Langenegger and written by Mark Bomback. It stars Ewen McGregor, Hugh Jackman and Michelle Williams. Music is by Ramin Djawadi and cinematography by Dante Spinotti. Jonathan McQuarry (McGregor) is a timid New York accountant who whilst working late one night meets Wyatt Bose (Jackman). Bose is the complete opposite to McQuarry, he's highly sexed, confident and supremely cool. So when a mix up with the pair's mobile phones introduces McQuarry to an exclusive sex group, he's spun into a world completely alien to him. If you have watched a lot of film noir, both classic era and neo, Deception will come off as irritatingly stale. What we have here is very much a case of the title revealing far too much! You would hope that with the makers going for broke with such a title then they would have the nous to fill out the story with surprises, take us and the principal characters down some twisty streets, not so, sadly. Within ten minutes you catch on to what is happening, the writing so poor as to not cleverly challenge the narrative drive. It could maybe be argued that McQuarry's journey, and how the character evolves, is something of a veer from the noir norm? But it has no dramatic worth and renders the finale as dull (the alternate ending is even worse). It's not a total wash out as such, the cast are engaging in their roles, good actors straining to make a weak screenplay work, while cameos from Natasha Henstridge, Charlotte Rampling and Maggie Q impact to come off as better than novelty value. And then there's Spinotti's (Manhunter, L.A. Confidential, Heat) cinematography, the best character in the play. His nighttime city scapes are electric, his colour lenses beautiful (golds and blues are poetic), his work deserves a better film. But that's about it, leaving us with a shallow noir cover version that's in search of its own identity. For those not familiar with the noir form, then this is just about average enough for a look see. For noir fans, though, it's neither erotic or thrilling and as unadventurous as it gets. 5/10

Media

  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster
  • Deception poster

Recommendations

  • Sector 7 main backdrop

    Sector 7

    4.8

  • Numb main backdrop

    Numb

    5.9

  • Guns & Talks main backdrop

    Guns & Talks

    6.6

  • Mommy's Little Boy main backdrop

    Mommy's Little Boy

    5.8

  • Unheilig: Puppenspiel Live - Vorhang auf! main backdrop

    Unheilig: Puppenspiel Live - Vorhang auf!

    9.0

  • The Horseman main backdrop

    The Horseman

    6.0

  • No Backdrop

    Man & Wife: An Educational Film for Married Adults

    2.9

  • Mammoth main backdrop

    Mammoth

    6.2

  • Khufiya main backdrop

    Khufiya

    6.5

  • Please Give main backdrop

    Please Give

    6.2

  • Incendiary main backdrop

    Incendiary

    5.4

  • Jane main backdrop

    Jane

    7.5

  • Arabesque main backdrop

    Arabesque

    6.2

  • The Alamo main backdrop

    The Alamo

    5.8

  • Last Chance Harvey main backdrop

    Last Chance Harvey

    6.3

  • Deathgasm main backdrop

    Deathgasm

    6.3

  • White Squall main backdrop

    White Squall

    6.3

  • The Hot Spot main backdrop

    The Hot Spot

    6.3

  • Salmon Fishing in the Yemen main backdrop

    Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

    6.4

  • Money Talks main backdrop

    Money Talks

    6.0

Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
$25,000,000.00
Revenue
$18,024,545.00
Keywords
deceptionheistlawyer