CRIME DRAMA; 1hr 48min
STARRING: Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams
Sex matters: from left, Jackman and McGregor
Opening with a theatrical flourish, Deception kicks off on a late-night gabfest between suave New York lawyer Wyatt Bose (Jackman) and mousy auditor Jonathan McQuarry (McGregor). Framed by high-rise glass and lights, the two kick back over a joint in their private bubble. But why is hotshot Wyatt bothering with such a nobody — let alone introducing him to the steamy delights of a chic-thrills group, where men and women meet for anonymous sex? Then Jonathan gets involved with a stunner (Williams) who disappears under nasty circs; Wyatt — not surprisingly — isn’t who he seems, and life as the timid auditor knew it is finito.
Dante Spinotti’s cinematography is a punchy character in first-time feature director Marcel Langenegger’s tensile thriller, with Jonathan’s arid, angular working world a pointed contrast to the dusky lushness of the hotels where couples meet to play. Jackman, sleek as a straight razor, is the stony antithesis of McGregor’s injured innocence, and for its slow creep of uncertainty, Mark Bomback’s racy, slippery screenplay is the real, ambiguous deal.
