‘Tyler Perry’s Duplicity’ Review: Bizarro Police Shooting Drama Mixed Up About Its Own Motives

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In a soap opera-like style yet lacking emotional depth, Tyler Perry’s Prime series “Duplicity” presents a leisurely narrative. It’s a peculiar and unusual film that hints at mystery and broader conspiracy, but rarely follows through. Consequently, it transforms into a bland political drama with little significant insight to offer.

In this movie, the focus is on two accomplished Black women: Marley Wells, portrayed by Kat Graham, who is a lawyer, and Fela Blackburn, played by Meagan Tandy, a TV news anchor. Their lives intertwine after the tragic police killing of Rodney, Marley’s brother and Fela’s boyfriend, an innocent man jogging in a wealthy neighborhood. The events leading up to the police encountering Rodney are questionable — they revolve around a mysterious phone call that no one appears keen on investigating. Although the shooting itself is more straightforward in the movie’s narrative, there are doubts surrounding how it happened.

As a cinephile, I found myself grappling with the fact that “Duplicity” often revolves around repetitive discussions about whether Rodney’s actions were justified. The movie doesn’t intentionally aim to portray the incident as convoluted, but the excessive focus on this aspect makes it feel like the plot is stuck in a rut, leading up to its revelation more by coincidence than Marley’s detective work. Off-screen sources seem to be the ones dropping crucial information into people’s laps. Moreover, the characters try to deliver philosophical musings about deceit, almost as if they were directly addressing the audience with the movie’s title. Unfortunately, these deep thoughts are seldom reflected in authentic human behavior. Instead, the characters seem to act solely to move the story forward, and unfortunately, the plot twists aren’t particularly captivating from the start.

Marley’s partner Tony (played by Tyler Lepley) is a private investigator and ex-police officer, acting as a connection between Marley, the rookie cop who fatally shot Rodney, named Caleb (Jimmi Stanton), his superior officer Kevin (RonReaco Lee), and Kevin himself. This complex network of characters serves more as a static backdrop than a source of intrigue throughout the story. However, it becomes significant when the film reveals its secrets all at once towards the end, with one twist after another unfolding rapidly, often through dialogue that feels forced. This rapid-fire revelation inadvertently leads to a comical outcome.

During the journey, not many actors get to delve deeply into their roles. In a storyline as explosive as a police shooting, filled with discussions about protests and riots (which aren’t shown), the drama is primarily devoid of raw emotion. Graham and Tandy rarely appear in scenes that center around their characters’ sorrow; Marley might as well be an outside investigator with no personal ties to Rodney. The only character exhibiting any depth or complexity is Caleb, the white officer who wrestles with guilt over his actions.

The story’s tone finds itself somewhere between a melodramatic portrayal of inequality that’s not fully developed and a mystery deeply rooted in the politics of respectability, exploring how our political affiliations or biases towards police brutality can distort our perception of intricate realities. Regrettably, the film mirrors none of this complexity itself. The visual elements of the movie also contribute to its puzzling blend of genres and styles. In fact, when multiple characters or objects appear in a scene, director Perry’s compositions lack clarity in focusing on any specific area. Moreover, the color scheme often features varying shades of blue throughout each scene. Although there might have been an intentional, humorous twist concerning police themes behind this choice, it ultimately falls flat. The visuals are usually marred by digital artifacts and unnatural halos around facial details, even after adjusting TV settings. In essence, the film is difficult to watch due to these issues.

In terms of appearance and theme, the film “Duplicity” can be characterized as misleading. The absence of clear direction leads to a movie that simply presents, rather than substantially discusses, problems confronting Black America, frequently shown through a media perspective. At one point, a character quotes Sidney Lumet’s “Network,” a significant American media satire, which is the only hint that the film might have something insightful to offer about this topic.

In “Duplicity,” characters frequently discuss various aspects of a situation, yet their actions often mirror events we’ve already witnessed in the movie. The film’s key observations are mainly about recognizing and reconsidering initial instincts when dealing with real-world issues that have straightforward solutions. Unfortunately, it appears that Perry’s directing style doesn’t seem to benefit from such advice.

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2025-03-20 21:47