STUDIO: Fox
RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2008
STARRING: Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, and Michelle Williams
WRITTEN BY: Mark Bomback
DIRECTED BY: Marcel Langenegger
FEATURES: Commentary by Director Marcel Langenegger
"A Passionate Process: Dissecting Deception" BonusView Mode
"Exposing Deception: The Making of the Film" Featurette
"Added Deception" - Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending with Optional Director Commentary

Deception is a head-scratcher. It's proof that you can get two of the most intriguing, charismatic actors in cinema and one of the best actresses of her generation and still make a total stinker. Up until mere hours before it was to be released in theaters, it looked like Deception was going to be held back from critics and simply join the stink pile of adult thrillers like Basic Instinct 2. Out of nowhere, a last minute press screening was scheduled and we actually got our hopes up a little bit. Could we finally have an intelligent thriller about sexuality and masculinity? Watch ten minutes of Deception on Blu-Ray and you'll know that this is not that intelligent sexual thriller that we were hoping to see. It's a total mess of a movie that was practically ignored in theaters and will, therefore, spark some interest on the video store shelf from people who missed it. The Blu-Ray is stacked with special features, including featurettes, a directory commentary track and some nifty deleted scenes that hint at a more complex story with a significantly better ending. It's too bad the movie itself is truly no good.

Ewan McGregor continues to prove that he is a victim of the curse of Lucas. Since he starred in the Star Wars prequels, it's been a series of disappointments for this once-vital actor that include Stay, The Island, Miss Potter, Cassandra's Dream, and, now, Deception. The dull McGregor plays Jonathan McQuarry, a lonely account who gets brought in on assignments for high-profile law firms. One such case brings him to a lonely conference room where he crosses paths with the charismatic Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman). Wyatt and Jonathan become white-collar buddies - playing tennis, having lunch in Central Park, and talking about the art of seducing women. After lunch one day, Jonathan mistakenly grabs Wyatt's cell phone and, when he receives a call that night asking him "Are you free tonight?", he decides to check out the voice on the other end of the line (which happens to belong to Natasha Henstridge). Suddenly, the man who admits to having only slept with four women finds himself knee deep in panties. Wyatt is off in London on business and Jonathan goes sex-crazy, eventually ending up in the same bedroom with the stunning "S" (Michelle Williams). Jonathan quickly wants more from "S" and it never dawns on him that the whole thing might be a set-up via seduction.

"I will always be a little bit sad that this isn't how the movie ended in theaters." That's what debut director Marcel Langenegger says in the commentary track over the alternate ending on the Deception Blu-Ray. The truly tragic thing is that Langenegger, making his debut, clearly wanted to make a better film. He wanted to make a movie about a man who goes from a boardroom to an open plaza. The studio and writer Mark Bomback wanted something else. Don't trust the man who wrote Godsend. Wyatt's plan is SO preposterous and full of plot holes that the most fun you'll have watching the movie is figuring out which plot twist is the most ridiculous. (My favorite is that the villain puts his entire plan and where he'll be after it goes through down on a piece of paper without the slightest concern that someone might show it to a cop.) Deception is more annoying than most movies because it constantly hints at the movie that it could have been but never becomes. Jackman remains an interesting actor and Williams steals the movie in every single one of her scenes. She'll make a great femme fatale someday. Just not in so bad a movie.

The Blu-Ray disc for Deception is average to good. The picture is somewhat flat, but that's partially because the usually-great Dante Spinotti missed the mark when he shot this film. Everything is in extreme close-up with very cold color and light choices, making this one of the most sterile films about sexuality ever shot. But, like most major studio Blu-Ray discs, the video transfer is never distracting. It's just never overly impressive either. Same with the audio, which is available in DTS HD 5.1 Master Lossless Audio. The mix is very good and the music sounds particularly impressive, but this ain't Transformers. As for the special features, Langenegger seems like a nice guy, but his commentary is too often descriptive (telling you what you're watching) and it seems clear that the man didn't quite get to make the movie that he wanted to. It seems like everyone involved with Deception was deceived.