Duplex
Miramax Films | Release Date: September 26, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
18
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Delicious dark comedy. Read full review
80
SlateDavid Edelstein
The movie got me where I live, but I think that even non-Park Slope real-estate owners will have a blast at Duplex: It's one of the most unnerving slapstick extravaganzas I've ever seen. Read full review
80
Film ThreatKevin Carr
What DeVito does that makes me consider him a master is that he is able to capture the most horrible and nasty facets of the human condition and present them on the screen with the charm and warmth of an Andy Williams holiday special. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Without Essel, this might have been a run-of-the-mill dark comedy. With the 86-year-old British thespian, it's a wickedly funny and audacious movie in which she puts her capable co-stars in the shade. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
Stays funny despite rickety gags because Ben Stiller and 81-year-old Eileen Essel are old pros at playing it straight. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDana Stevens
A refreshingly mean-spirited gothic real estate comedy. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
It's a mean little movie, but it's also thin and repetitive, a premise in search of a story. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's stylish, it's sort of smart, it's full of misplaced talent. But it's not funny enough, and maybe, in a way, not dark enough either. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Playing straight man isn't really Barrymore's strength, but former "Simpson's" writer Larry Doyle's script is funny and Stiller is even funnier; he turns even the more juvenile moments in something to laugh at. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Larry Doyle and John Hamburg's script is full of holes, but this is still pretty damn funny--thanks mostly to Barrymore, who seems to be retracing Lucille Ball's trajectory from sex kitten to comedienne. Read full review
60
Village VoiceEd Park
A bitter little fable of rent control and its discontents, Duplex moves rapidly into darkness and claustrophobia. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
More demanding viewers hoping for the cruel wit of DeVito's "Throw Momma From the Train" or "The War of the Roses" will likely be disappointed by its lack of comic bite. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Looks and sounds like a black comedy, but by the time DeVito reaches the cutesy, nonsensical ending, he's lost the will to follow through on it. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Its drawback is that it's a one-joke affair, leading to a repetitiousness that makes the film seem overlong even at 87 minutes. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Tells an increasingly outlandish story with very funny (and often gross) moments. But about an hour in, it grows derivative and disappointing. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The result is a cheap and cloying contraption that doesn't know when to stop smirking. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There's too much contrivance and not enough plausibility, and so finally we're just enjoying the performances and wishing they'd been in a more persuasive movie. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Not terribly funny. When it does strain for humour, it opts for Farrelly brothers-style gross-outs -- vomit and chewed food and blocked drains -- which makes the movie itself seem like some kind of undigested expulsion rather than a well thought-out idea. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Stooping to low-rent laffs By ELIZABETH WEITZMAN SPECIAL TO THE NEWS Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore & Eileen Essel (on floor) DUPLEX. With Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore. Directed by Danny DeVito. Running time: 88 mins. Rated PG-13: Slapstick violence, gross-out humor. There are people who can look at a creaky, crumbling house and home right in on the solid framework and fabulous fireplace. In "Duplex," Ben Stiller is the fireplace. As for the structure, well, this rather rickety comedy boasts a solid base, though sadly, too much of it has been plastered over with moldy jokes and leaky plot devices. Read full review
50
PremiereScott Warren
Might have been a tasty black comedy if treated as such, but the twisted sense of humor is never allowed to elevate beyond the cutesy sensibilities of a romantic comedy. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Runs into construction problems, maybe from too many foremen. DeVito favors pushy slapstick; Stiller prefers hotshot sarcasm. Barrymore's comic talents are wasted; she's there for decoration. Read full review
40
VarietyDavid Rooney
Somewhere along the line, the comedy turned from dark and playful to mean-spirited and sophomoric. A waste of the considerable appeal and comic talents of leads Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Could have used two rangier lead players than Stiller (doing his patented aggrieved-yuppie shtick) and Barrymore (who's so perky you want to slap her); the 81-year-old Essell, however, is a wicked pleasure throughout. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
This mean-spirited little comedy actually isn't bad. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Were it allowed to be dark, Duplex would probably be more interesting, possibly even with cult appeal. Call it a fixer-upper with potential. Read full review
40
EmpireAnna Smith
Director DeVito doesn't make his characters' cold-blooded decisions anywhere near as credible as he did in territorial black comedy "The War Of The Roses." Someone's losing their touch, it seems. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Duplex's tenant-from-hell scenario is as predictable as it is tedious -- a tinny, unsatisfying throwaway farce. Read full review
33
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
There's no slow descent into ruthless warfare and we get neither the giddy charge of their bad behavior, nor the guilty sting of complicity in their ruthless desire. All that's left is an idea still in search of a script. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianPhilip Wuntch
Unfunny and misguided, Duplex deserves a wrecking crew. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
This is a one-note deal, and it doesn't take long before you want to, well, just move out and leave these characters in their rent-controlled limbo. Read full review
25
New York PostLou Lumenick
Duplex, a shoddily constructed and alarmingly unfunny dark comedy that squanders the talents of Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore, is one real-estate deal you should walk away from. Read full review
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