Duplicity versus I Love You, Man

Duplicity by its very definition means a double cross, a two-fold meaning. A tale of industrial espionage told in the style of 60s caper films (think the split screen aesthetic of The Thomas Crown Affair) Duplicity marks the sophomore outing from director/writer Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton) and shows his knack for creating subterfuge and witty character banter.
Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are a couple of spooks (CIA, MI5) who bump ships in the night a decade ago in Dubai. In the present day they work as the heads of security for billion dollar corporations (one run by nasty Tom Wilkinson and the other headed by sly fox Paul Giamatti). If you're familiar with Michael Clayton you'll note that the characters who got screwed over in that film are in Duplicity the characters that wield the upper hand. Gilroy unfolds scenes in a chronologically non-linear fashion, so different motivations are subtly revealed. In fact, Duplicity takes the viewer down to the wire only revealing the key to understanding the film in the last scene.
Owen and Roberts click with the snappy dialogue and while they hardly eclipse, say Cary Grant and Rosiland Russell in His Girl Friday, they definitely conjure up screwball comedy ghost images. The attempt at comedy in I Love You, Man has the low bar of situation comedy best regulated to television sit-coms. Oddball buddies Paul Rudd and Jason Segal grapple over issues like masturbation and marriage. Rudd doesn't have any real friends and needs to secure a best man for his upcoming nuptials with Rashida Jones. The jokes mainly consist of salacious gossip from Jones' girlfriends and Rudd trying to be cool by combining hip phrases. This isn't even second-tier comedy like Stepbrothers or Role Models. Rudd in particular seems miscast while supporting turns from Jamie Pressly, Jon Favreau and Jane Curtin are cringeworthy. Russ was such an awesome talent, albeit a while ago, in small indie style films like The Shape of Things and The Chateau that one hopes he tires of stock parts in lowbrow comedies and regains his sealegs.