Review: The Double
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: B] A workaday schlub, Eisenberg's Simon James finds himself with a new colleague in the preternaturally self-confident James Simon.
IT TAKES TWO: Jesse Eisenberg plays a meek office clerk menaced by his doppelganger in a film with Dostoyevskian origins.
City Paper grade: B
Before 2010’s Submarine, Richard Ayoade’s greatest achievement as a director was Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, a spoof of low-budget horror that demonstrated an uncanny ability to emulate a source while nonetheless making it his own. That’s essentially the approach taken by his second feature, The Double, which notwithstanding its Dostoyevskian origins, knocks several large-size chips off the block of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Perhaps it’s only fair that a doppelganger movie should itself so closely resemble another film, but it’s distracting, certainly in the beginning.
Fortunately, The Double discovers its singularities, thanks mainly to Jesse Eisenberg(s)’ lead performance(s). A workaday schlub, Eisenberg’s Simon James finds himself with a new colleague in the preternaturally self-confident James Simon. The understated gag, a dark and cruel one, is that James is so nondescript that no one seems to notice that he’s suddenly acquired an exact physical duplicate: He’s a nothing, so with Simon around, that makes one of them.
It certainly doesn’t help when Simon discovers the shy neighbor, played by Mia Wasikowska, whom James has been imperceptibly wooing; even she’s drawn to his cocky assurances. But Ayoade doesn’t go for glib distinctions: James’ passive aggression is as nettlesome as Simon’s breezy entitlement; you can see why people would prefer the one to the other, while not necessarily caring for either of them. But that also leaves The Double in a tricky spot, trying to keep us involved in a battle when we don’t care who, if anyone, wins.
Stylistically, The Double makes great strides past the already confident Submarine; you get the feeling Ayoade could be a major director if he put down certain crutches. But without the redeeming personal touch of his coming-of-age charmer Submarine, it’s a cold and clinical affair.
