The Double [DVD] [2014]

This film is made by a bunch of people who know exactly what they are doing. Every detail is taken care of. It feels like it was made for a reason and with a love of the craft. Anyone who appreciates a great film with attention to detail should watch this. It's somehow a combination of the best Terry Gilliam, Woody Allen, Michel Gondry, European/ New York, unknown city life trapped in a depressed office/ factory/apartment building with the feeling of a well written claustrophic play that somehow manages to be comedically uplifting when needed. In my opinion that's a hard thing to pull off. It's quite unique and particular. It has a sense of urgency about it which along with the random music makes it a bizarre mismatched pace of welcome surprises. It is impressively stylised, visually blunt with its editing in parts and overall feels like a new generation of film. Anyone who is self analytical or even questions some of the annoying "whys" in this world would appreciate this film. Anyone who questions the system or questions their own sanity. Anyone who has worked hard to achieve things and also the dreamers who dream of a better "what if " world would enjoy it. It can be watched completely as a whole or even in segments for those with a short attention span . The characterisation is entertaining and the actors are perfectly balanced between predictable and obscure. You don't necessarily have to understand this film in totality. You can just appreciate it for what it is. It's intelligent without being too obviously intellectual and you don't quite know what to expect, right to the end. More than anything it just makes me happy to know that films like this get made. They don't really get the acclaim they deserve but they make a difference to the world because they are undeniably great cinema.

What can I say? It is completely unwatchable. I fast forwarded to see if the pace and the story picked up, but 40 minutes in was exactly the same as the beginning. Among the most boring, depressing films I've ever attempted to watch. I wish Amazon had a "minus" category and i would give it three minuses. Dreadful.

This is a non mainstream off beat kind of production but I enjoyed it very much. It put me in mind of films like Eraserhead and Naked Lunch etc. I particularly liked the sets, props and images used. This is a keeper for me and I'll watch it again, but it's definetly not everyones cup of tea.

Richard Ayoade’s The Double (2013) has a nightmarish tang, but doesn’t set out to frighten, it substitutes creaky jump-scares, for utter, stupendous style.Simon (Jesse Eisenberg) lives in a bureaucratic state, working in the bowels of a government office. Lonely, he daydreams about Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) and makes any excuse to contact her. One day, a new employee arrive, and Simon notices something remarkable about him, he’s identical to Simon in appearance. Yet, different in personality. Will Simon be consumed by his double James (Jesse Eisenberg)?Some opinions may say that story has been sacrificed for style, and I agree. Yet this is a bold move by Ayoade and editors Chris Dickens and Nick Fenton. The tale of the double, the doppelgänger, the lookalike, the evil self, has been used many times in literature and film, so we don’t need spoon feeding with every plot point. Instead, the director and editors made a conscious decision to focus on style.And style dazzles in every scene. It’s the atmospheric lighting, showing shadows and brightness in equal expressionistic quantities; it’s the metallic and dismal set design by Barbara Herman Skelding resembling theatre sets, reminding me of Michael Radford’s 1984 (1984) or even in a strange sense Lars von Trier’s Dogville (2003); its violent string instruments and deep piano pinging, created by Andrew Hewitt, creating a nervous audience, it’s all these things that give The Double its style.The film is so stylish that we forget the exceptional special effects showing Eisenberg playing two different characters consuming the same screen. Like Brian Helgeland’s Legend (2015), which does the same, the effects are so amazing that we believe we’re watching two different actors.The Double is made by experts in their respective fields. It is well worth a watch to experience exceptional stylistic choices.

Kind of 'Rear Window' mixed with a lot of other derivative stuff from expressionist Europe like 'Metropolis'. Nicely shot, very well acted but as a whole it was, intellectually, a rather dreary piece of work and I had no real connection with he characters. I therefore, naturally, disconnected from the film in its entirety.

Visually and cinematically fascinating, kind of kafkian (also in the disorienting setting and design, where you never can tell when and where this film is really located), it's an independent film by a new and promising director (Richard Ayonade, who also made Submarine. Better than this one) who's got personality but maybe this time was too ambitious before well defining the shape and reason why of his ambition. So everything here is perfect (even actors) but at the end you come out with nothing in your hand.

Nothing much more to add, good value, excellent condition and we enjoyed the film. Excellent work by the supplier . Thank you.

Whilst obviously not for everyone, The Double is a great watch for those who appreciate quirky dark satire. If you want loads of explosions and car chases, give it a miss. It's simple really.

Very dark in mood, and very well done. First rate acting all around, great story (of course), directing, sound, set design, lighting, etc. Maybe not the best date night movie, but quite satisfying (like a good Hitchcock film).

Insolito film comedy-thriller surreale, che indaga sul conflitto interiore di un uomo "sul bordo di un abisso", e il modo in cui la sua mente riesce a trovare un modo per salvarlo. Bravissimo Eisenberg.

Amazing movie with fantastic humor and a fantastic story. This movie is a nice change of pace from regular comedies and is a great ride.

Ein wirklich unglaublich intensiver Film! Bin immer noch ganz beeindruckt von der ganzen Machart des Films. "The Double" überzeugt handwerklich sowie schauspielerisch, auch die Stimmung ist von Anfang bis Ende sehr düster gehalten, und ein regelrechtes Verwirrspiel, bei dem der Zuschauer mit rätseln darf, was es mit dem geheimnisvollen Doppelgänger der Hauptfigur auf sich hat. Jesse Eisenberg stellt wieder einmal unter Beweis was für ein guter Schauspieler er ist. Ich finde es ja schade das solche Filme wie "The Double" nicht so massentauglich sind. Solche Filme müsste es öfters geben und sollten vor allem mehr Beachtung geschenkt werden. Der Score von Andrew Hewitt erinnerte übrigens sehr stark an das Lex Luthor Theme in "BvS" :D

I've now seen two films by the talented Ayodade – the other being his coming of age 'Submarine" - and had a very similar reaction though they are miles apart in style, story and theme.First, this is a gifted film-maker, who doesn't want to play by the usual rules. Next, he knows how to get off to a great start, build a fascinating world, get you involved with his people, but third, he doesn't quite find ways to make his third acts pay off as interestingly (or powerfully or emotionally) as the first two-thirds of the film promise. In both films the focus drifts to less interesting elements or variations on the stories he's telling.And last, he needs to lighten up on the too-obvious 'homage's to his cinematic touchstones. In "Submarine" it was (among others) Wes Anderson and "Rushmore". Here the overbearing influences (there are many) are led by Terry Gilliam's "Brazil". There were a large number of design and character choices – while effective - that came close enough that I couldn't help but sit there making comparisons ('Hey, there's Wallace Shawn doing Ian Holm'). And it starts to approach that fine line between inspiration and plagiarism.That said, there's a lot to like here. The photography is often gorgeous. Jessie Eisenberg does a terrific job in a tough double role – a meek office worker who is suddenly faced with another employee who looks exactly like him. But the new guy has a brash, self-confident personality, everyone loves him, and no one else seems to notice the two are physically exactly alike, right down to their clothes.This raises interesting questions about personality, perception and reality. Is "James Simon" (the cool one) merely a psychological projection of the nerd, "Simon James"? But if that's the case, why does everyone else interact with both, together and separately? Is it that Simon is the only one who thinks they look alike? i.e. is Simon projecting himself onto someone who – if we saw objectively – wouldn't even really look like him? Well, that would be an interesting idea, and a promising road for the film to explore, and it hints heavily at that possibility, only to simply drop and contradict it.And that's part of why this is two-thirds of a great film, not a whole one. In the end things play out in a way that has been foreshadowed from early on, and suddenly the film feels less deep, less challenging, more an exercise in cinematic playfulness than an exploration of deeper themes both personal and societal. The head trip becomes too literal, the conclusions too simple for the complex surreal reality we've come to acceptOn the plus side, the effects are terrific, and many of the best scenes in the film are Eisenberg talking to himself in one shot. (A hell of an acting challenge as well). And the film has a dark sense of humor that keeps the Kafkaesque world and 'big themes' from becoming ponderous, (Again, I just wish I had less often chuckled, but then thought 'hey, that just like the scene in 'Barton Fink…', or whatever).In any case I look forward to whatever Ayoade does next, but I hope he will find a way to finish as strong as he starts, and to be brave enough to trust his own very good sense of style, and not borrow quite so much from others.