The Double (2014)
This is the second film to be directed by Richard Ayodade, who is probably most well known for his role as Morris Moss the hilarious geek from "The IT Crowd". His first film "Submarine" was a somewhat darkly comic coming-of-age film. As a follow-up "The Double" is also darkly comic, but with rather higher aspirations since it is based on Dostoyevsky's novel (of the same name).
"The Double" is the sort of comedy where a character works in a boring job, lives in a cramped flat, and where a large number of people are committing suicide. This is not a laugh-a-minute kind of comedy, but at sometimes the surrealism of the film is very funny and on occasion there really are lines that are hysterical. Like with the Coen Brothers' "A Serious Man", the majority of the jokes are at the protagonist's expense, so there's the same balance between empathy for the protagonist and hilarity at his misfortunes. All the while with a sinister setting in the background.
Right from the start, "The Double" is beautiful. In the very first scene we see the light dancing around as Jesse Eisenberg is sitting on a train. The lighting effect makes this grimy and plain setting look absolutely beautiful and the film looks similarly bland or grimy and yet beautiful all the way through the film.
I've heard that the style of the film is derivative, but I honestly could not say that I've ever seen anything quite like "The Double" before. Still, the most obvious example that comes to mind is Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". Certainly "Brazil" shares the darkly comic tone, being basically a comedy verion of Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four", though "Brazil" is too cheerful to really match the disturbing tone of "The Double". But what the two films have in common is the bizarre office rooms and the old technology distorted to look futuristic. Gilliam had everyone using typewriters because if you try to represent futuristic technology now, it will inevitably feel dated when people return to it later. Similarly, in "The Double" we have an extra-long photocopier with extra flashing lights. It looks futuristic, but it's not really doing anything more than your typical photocopier. All the tvs are old chunky ones, not new flat screens. The styles of dress seems to come from the 40s with everyone consistently dressing formally. (I am not an expert on costume styles btw.) The only really new stylistic element is that we regularly see people drinking a bizarre blue drink.
On the tvs we regularly see a very low-budget sci-fi tv series looking like Flash Gordon with the budget of old classic Doctor Who. Paddy Considine is excellent in these short bursts of ridiculously cheesy sci-fi heroism. It amazed me when Paddy Considine, who I knew from gritty roles in films like "Dead Man's Shoes" and "My Summer of Love", was used for a purely comedic role in "Submarine" and was absolutely brilliant. Here in "The Double" he has very little time to set up the comedy, with just one ludicrous cheesy one-liner available to him, and yet he regularly had me in stitches.
Paddy Considine in his role from "Submarine". I've had no luck finding images of him from the ridiculous sci-fi show-within-a-film in "The Double", but trust me, he is similarly ridiculous and hilarious there too.
But I still haven't even begun discussing the plot of this film. Jesse Eisenberg stars as both Simon James, our protagonist, and James Simon, a mysterious doppelganger who arrives out of nowhere. Simon is hardworking and sensitive, but lacks confidence. James is lazy and mean, but he finds it very easy to interact with people and manipulate them. Basically James is essentially Mark Zuckerberg from "The Social Network" while Simon is essentially the role Eisenberg played in "Roger Dodger".
There's a dreamlike element to the whole film. There's something not quite real about the way the world of the film is presented. And yet there is a clear progression in the order in which events take place.
Mia Wasikowska is essentially playing the object of Simon's affections and yet even while she is often in the background she's a strong character in her own right.
"The Double" is often incredibly funny, even in spite of its tense atmosphere and a bleak scenario. Even while we are meant to laugh at Jesse Eisenberg's central character who is barely recognised as an employee in his own company, we are able to strongly sympathise him as he tries to deal with the presence of a new employee who instantly gains the respect he has been so desperately seeking. Stylistically impressive, fantastically acted, well-paced and generally brilliant. As of now, this is my favourite movie of the year. Over the next eight months, this is the movie I'll be judging other films against.
A+