Deception (2008 film)

Deception
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Marcel Langenegger
Produced by	Robbie Brenner David Bushell Christopher Eberts Hugh Jackman John Palermo Arnold Rifkin
Written by	Mark Bomback
Starring	Hugh Jackman Ewan McGregor Michelle Williams
Music by	Ramin Djawadi
Cinematography	Dante Spinotti
Editing by	Douglas Crise Christian Wagner
Studio	Media Rights Capital
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	April 25, 2008
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$25,000,000
Box office	$17,741,298

Deception is a 2008 drama/thriller film, directed by Marcel Langenegger and written by Mark Bomback. It stars Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, and Michelle Williams. The film was released on April 25, 2008 in the United States.

Plot

Accountant Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) is an auditor working out of New York with little to no social life. One night while working late in a boardroom he meets a lawyer, Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman). After a long conversation, Jonathan takes the subway home where he has a brief encounter with a blond woman (Michelle Williams) while waiting on the train. Upon returning home he notices a pipe in his bedroom is leaking and leaving a stain.

Jonathan contacts Wyatt the next day and they play tennis after work. They meet again for lunch the next day and upon leaving, Wyatt takes Jonathan's mobile phone instead of his own, forcing a trade. He mentions he will be in London on business for the next few weeks. When Jonathan realizes the phones have been switched he attempts to contact Wyatt but does not reach him. He is soon contacted by a woman (Natasha Henstridge) who asks if he is free that night. He informs her that he is and agrees to meet her. When she arrives, they proceed directly to a hotel room upstairs and have sex. In the morning, Jonathan realizes that Wyatt must be on some type of exclusive sex club list.

When Wyatt calls the next day, he encourages Jonathan to continue his participation with other list members. Upon doing so he has an encounter with an older woman (Charlotte Rampling) who explains more of the list's rules: the initiator pays for the room, no names are exchanged, there is no conversation and no rough play. Participants are always anonymous, although Jonathan later spots the older woman on the cover of Forbes. He continues to participate over the next few weeks with several partners.

One night after initiating another encounter, Jonathan is surprised to find that his partner is the blond woman he met while waiting for the train. He tells her that they had met once before, and instead of having sex, they order room service and talk for hours. The woman does not say her name but Jonathan assumes her name to begin with an "S" because of an S-shaped pendant on her handbag. The next day Jonathan rejects other callers from the list but when "S" calls again they agree to meet for dinner in Chinatown. They then proceed to a hotel where she requests some ice. When Jonathan returns to the room she is gone and there is blood on the bedsheets. Someone knocks him out from behind, but when he wakes up again the bed has been made. He contacts the police and explains to the Detective (Lisa Gay Hamilton) that "S" is missing but that he has little to no information about her. She doubts his story and his sanity. Jonathan tries to trace Wyatt and is told that he is not known at the law firm or the apartment.

Upon returning home Jonathan is surprised to find Wyatt waiting for him and demanding that he steal $20 million from an investment firm he will begin to audit in a few days. Jonathan agrees to do so, fearing for the safety of "S". The following night at work, Jonathan receives a call asking if he was free. The woman calling is named Tina (Maggie Q), an investment banker who once introduced Wyatt to the exclusive sex club list. She reveals that Wyatt's real name is Jamie Getz, and that they met when he was attending a private corporate event as a guest of Rudolph Holloway, an investment banker with whom Jamie Getz played tennis. Jonathan finds out through research that Jamie Getz murdered Rudolph Holloway via strangulation with tennis strings, and also did three years for insurance fraud and arson. Jonathan is later notified by the detective that a blond woman matching his earlier description was discovered dead. When he comes in to identify her, he sees that it is actually the first woman who called him, and that she was also strangled by tennis strings.

Jonathan goes on to complete a wire transfer to a bank in Spain in his name, but secretly adds Wyatt's name as co-signer. When he returns home he notices that a picture Wyatt had sent of "S" being held captive was taken in his apartment before the pipe started leaking. He realizes that she must have been a conspirator and wisely avoids his apartment which explodes when the superintendent enters to fix the pipe.

Now in Madrid, Wyatt impersonates Jonathan and attempts to withdraw the funds from the bank, but he is denied access because of the co-signer. Jonathan approaches Wyatt outside the bank and agrees to help him withdraw the funds if Wyatt splits it with him. Swapping identities, Jonathan and Wyatt cash in the $20 million in two $10 million suitcases. (A deleted scene reveals that Jonathan encountered a black market operator in Chinatown, who offered a variety of items, including fake passports; Jonathan presumably obtained a passport with his image in the name of Wyatt Bose and used this in his scheme to obtain half of the money). After the transaction is complete, Jonathan offers Wyatt half of his money if Wyatt tells him where "S" is. Wyatt pretends to agree and lures Jonathan to an uncrowded area where he draws a gun on Jonathan. Before he is able to shoot Jonathan, Wyatt is shot by "S" who leaves quickly. Jonathan pursues her, leaving a dying Wyatt and the money behind. He begs her to talk to him but she rather call it off, apologizing to him as she did not know Wyatt's intent to kill Jonathan. "S" gets into a cab and leaves as Jonathan watches her go.

In Madrid, Jonathan again crosses path with "S" and they exchange smiles. The film comes to a close as Jonathan walks to her and she stands waiting for him.

Cast

• Hugh Jackman as Jamie Getz a.k.a. Wyatt Bose
• Ewan McGregor as Jonathan McQuarry
• Michelle Williams as "S"
• Maggie Q as Tina
• Lisa Gay Hamilton as Detective J. Russo
• Natasha Henstridge as Simone Wilkinson
• Charlotte Rampling as Wall Street Belle
• Javier Godino as Spanish Bank Manager

Critical reception

The film received substantially negative reviews from critics. As of April 27, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 14% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 95 reviews – with the consensus that the film is "a middling, predictable potboiler."^[1] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 32 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.^[2]

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $2.3 million in 2,001 theaters in the United States and Canada, averaging only $1,155 per theater and ranking #10 at the box office.^[3] As of September 22, 2009, the film has grossed $4,598,506 in the United States and Canada while grossing $13,114,439 in foreign countries adding to a total of $17,712,945.

See also

• Gerhard Richter, whose painting is featured

References

1. ^ "Deception Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009724-deception/. Retrieved June 20, 2010. 
2. ^ "Deception (2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/deception. Retrieved April 27, 2008. 
3. ^ "Deception (2008) (2008) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=deception.htm. Retrieved April 29, 2008. 

External links

• Official website
• Deception at the Internet Movie Database
• Deception at AllRovi
• Deception at Box Office Mojo
• Deception at Rotten Tomatoes
• Deception at Metacritic