A different way of telling a story

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

I love movies, almost all of them.I even liked Iron Sky. But I didn't make it through this. I was reticent to give up on it, so I read some of the other reviews. I don't want to be unkind either. I have seen most of the other movies referenced in the other reviews -- I'm mad about Brazill for example, all of Gilliam's stuff mostly.And I could never suffer through actually reading Dostoevsky, I'd rather watch a dozen good movies.And I think I figured out early on that he was he, and him too. OK. And then?Others remark on the acting. I'm not easily impressed, Jesse plays Jesse playing some part it seems to me, like a lot of actors. Effects, OK effects. I like Harryhausen too, much harder in its day to be that bad.I'd rather watch something more like a quiche, less like an egg white omelet. Juice, hash browns, good cup of coffee, and maybe a cherry danish.I am me and you are me and we all like breakfast.

Actor and comedian Richard Ayoade, best known for The Crystal Maze, made a successful directorial debut with quirky coming-of-age comedy drama Submarine, I was looking forward to seeing if he could deliver with this much darker thriller style film, based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Basically Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) is a downtrodden young man who has worked the same cubicle desk job for seven years, but he is ignored by his boss and colleagues. From his apartment, he often spies into the window of his beautiful neighbour and co-worker Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), who he admires, through he telescope, he sees her throwing away pieces of art, and takes it for himself. One night, Simon sees a man jump to his death from the floor above Hannah's apartment, he talks to the police investigating, they say that if the man had jumped a few feet to the right, he would have escaped death with only injuries. Simon's boss Mr. Papadopoulos (Wallace Shawn) announces the arrival of a new employee, James Simon (also Eisenberg), he looks completely identical to Simon, which causes Simon himself to faint, but James is assertive and charming, and quickly gains respect from his co-workers, who do not seem to notice him being identical to Simon, much to his annoyance. James on the other hand does notice this, he takes pity on Simon and decides to help him seduce Hannah, she asks James out on a date, through Simon. On the date, Simon pretends to be James, with the real James giving him instructions through an earpiece, but Simon becomes nervous, so they swap places, James gets a kiss from Hannah, angering Simon, he next takes James's place to to take an aptitude test, and he seduces the boss's rebellious daughter, Melanie (Yasmin Paige). Simon gets his revenge on James, revealing to Hannah that James is cheating on her with Melanie, but James blackmails Simon with explicit photos he took of himself with Melanie, knowing the boss will believe it is Simon. At work, Simon accuses James of being an impostor, he is fired after going on a maniacal tirade, he considers committing suicide, but stops himself seeing Hannah is unconscious in her apartment, it is at hospital that it is revealed she has overdosed, and miscarried (she was pregnant following her sexual encounter with James). Simon is relieved that Hannah survives and takes her home, but she is still angry at him, she wanted to die, and suggests he kill himself, she then goes through his pockets, discovering earrings he has bought for her, and her salvaged art. Simon learns his mother (Phyllis Somerville) has died, he is angry when he sees James attending her funeral, Simon punches him and discovers that they share injuries; as James's nose bleeds, so does Simon's. He finds Hannah and tells her he wants to be noticed, Simon goes to his apartment and handcuffs sleeping Simon to his bed, then goes to the ledge above Hannah's apartment, steps to the right, and jumps, he is badly hurt. Hannah runs to Simon and an ambulance arrives, while the handcuffed James, lacking medical attention, appears to be on the brink of death on the apartment floor, he lies motionless, inside the ambulance The Colonel (James Fox) and Hannah watch over Simon, the Colonel says Simon is "special", to which he responds "I'd like to think I'm pretty unique". Also starring Noah Taylor as Harris, Cathy Moriarty as Kiki, Craig Roberts as Young Detective, Chris O'Dowd as Nurse, Chris Morris as Workers' Services Executive, Sally Hawkins as Receptionist at Ball and Paddy Considine as 'The Replicator'. Eisenberg is splendid playing both the naive unappreciated worker opposite himself as the arrogant and sexually confident double, it enters similar territory to the film Brazil, a moody movie with a fantasy element, there are only small giggly moments, it mostly feels claustrophobic, filled with paranoia, and arresting visuals, a fairly disturbing but equally interesting psychological drama. Good!

This is one of those dystopian films which looks like the action took place at the bottom of a fish tank covered in algae. Yellow and green filters, or their electronic equivalents, create a suitable gloom. We expect tropical fish to swim by, but instead humans emerge. And they are strange humans. Jesse Eisenberg is very good at playing a gormless young man of excessive timidity. I did not get as far as seeing Eisenberg play the physical double of his initial character, because this film was just not interesting, so I turned it off. If only one could turn off some real life events in, say, Syria! All these gloomy, dark, and menacing sci fi films that keep being made are too much like the afterlives of bad people. Why should we have to watch such dribble? If I want to see this kind of thing, I can visit a darkened aquarium. The director, Richard Ayoade, should do the decent thing, as the English gentlemen of yesteryear used to call it, when there was no other way out. Or otherwise he should just stick to acting. OK, so the film is based on a novella by Dostoevsky. I am not impressed. This reminds me of how the uneducated moron who used to run the MGM office in London long ago, when challenged by a screenwriter, pronounced the author's name 'Dusty-evksy' because he did not know who he was. I would call this film 'Dusky-evsky' because of the enveloping twilight. And as for James Fox playing 'the Colonel', really, doesn't he have anything better to do with his time? Yawn, yawn. Can we please have more films made on the surface of the earth rather than beneath it, and which give us something life-enhancing instead terminally depressing?

The movie, "The Double", was directed by Richard Ayoade and starred Jesse Eisenberg as the main protagonist. It is one of the two adaptations of the novel, "The Double" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It is a dark thriller with comedic aspects to it. It has action sequences and keeps the audience attached throughout the entire film. The story is about Simon James (played by Jesse Eisenberg) as a socially awkward office worker who doesn't know his place at work and in life. He has a crush on the girl (played by Mia Wasikowska) who works in the copier room and also lives across from him. One day in the office, his boss reveals that there is the new employee, and there is something strange about him. He looks exactly like Simon. The rest of the film is how Simon deals with this doppelganger and the journey ahead of him. The whole film for the audience is one big brain teaser. You think you know what is going on, but it also may not be. What gave this movie the best sense of tone, was the lighting. Whether it was the action sequences, or just sitting in the diner, the lighting really gave you the sense of mood and tone that really grabs the feeling of what is happening. The lighting along with the background and extras in the movie, made you wonder what time period it was. Either it was in the past where everything looked old, or it was an apocalyptical rebuild phase that had the technology, but not to its full extent. The lighting appears dull, but at the same time interesting and outgoing. The work that was but into this movie artistically, made the film better than without it. ~~SPOILERS AHEAD~~ The reason I am giving this film a 7 out of 10, is because of the main reason of why everyone is automatically in love with James as soon as he comes into the picture, everyone is automatically in love with him. I don't really understand the whole scenario of why that is happening. Simon looks exactly the same as him, but yet, Hannah doesn't acknowledge his existence and has a crush on James. It is OK for girls to get to know him and then fall in love with him, but right away while they already know Simon, just doesn't work for me with the plot. The best thing to note about this film is connecting with the characters. At times you can feel how Simon is when he is depressed and things don't work at with him, or when he is frustrated about how James is getting all the correct for what he did. The movie definitely has the different personalities to make up for the film. Each actor/actress portrays their character excellently. The movie's ending isn't the best, but also not the worst. It is a good film and I recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers.