ENEMY – The Review

You’re probably heard the old chestnut that somewhere in the world resides your mirror twin or doppelgänger, a person with your exact mannerisms, voice, etc., but completely unrelated to you. Pretty farfetched a notion you say. Well film makers certainly believe it, or at least have used that idea for action thrillers and comedies in everything from THE PRISONER OF ZENDA to FRANCES JOINS THE NAVY!. But what if this discovery of your double is not the inspiration for swashbuckling romance or manic hi-jinks? What if it drops you into a nightmare world? That’s the main idea of ENEMY which re-teams co-writer and director Denis Villeneuve and actor Jake Gyllenhaal less that a year after their first work together, the crime thriller PRISONERS.

The film opens over the Toronto cityscape as we hear a voicemail message left by a concerned mother about her son’s new home. Cut to an elegant, nude mother-to-be. Then we’re inside a strange, dark, exclusive fetish club. Finally the camera zooms in on one of the club’s patrons (or is he?). It’s Adam Bell (Gyllenhaal), a disheveled college history teacher who trudges back and forth between work and his drab, spartan apartment. The monotony is occasionally broken by visits from his gorgeous girlfriend Mary (Melanie Laurnet) who drops by for drinks and lackluster sex. One day, in between classes, a colleague recommends a locally produced film to him. On the way home Adam stops at a video store and rents a DVD of “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way”. That night he pops the disc in his laptop, the film’s an unremarkable 1930’s-set comedy released the previous year. But that night the flick occupies his dreams. There’s something about the scene of the heroine checking in at a posh hotel lobby. It’s the bellhop! He’s got my face! Adam wakes up and views the disc again…it’s true. He makes note of the actors names in the end credits (Bellhop numbers one, two, three). Using an internet search engine he tracks down Anthony Clair, a fellow with a very different life from his. He’s successful, dynamic (he loves his motorcycle!), and shares a spacious brand-new high-rise condo with his beautiful, very-pregnant wife Helen (Sarah Gadon).  The eventual meeting of the two men changes their lives in unexpected, twisted, tangled ways.

Gyllenhaal does such a good job of delineating Adam and Anthony that we are always sure of who’s who even when their spouses are being tricked. Adam is all slouches and nervous ticks as his eyes always seem to shift downward. When he’s not on automatic pilot delivering his class lectures he’s hesitant and stammering, his words barely trickling out of his clenched mouth. Anthony is all  macho bravado and confidence while masking his inner darkness, easily intimidating his double. The big confrontation between the two provides some nifty special effects tricks. Unfortunately the actresses aren’t given anything quite as interesting to do. Laurent is a sensual free-spirit whose attraction to the drippy Adam is one of the film’s many mysteries. Gadon is often on the verge of hysteria as she learns of her hubby’s unknown twin. Luckily there is a sprightly cameo by the ever-radiant Isabella Rossellini as Adam’s condescending, haughty artist mother.

Director Villeneuve seems to be going for a nightmare set in broad daylight vibe (yet another spider, man?), but this just tends to undercut any dramatic tension that begins to slowly (so slowly) build. Fortunately the plot goes off in a somewhat unusual direction in the last half hour, but the final pre-fadeout scene will have most viewers scratching their heads (after checking their watches to see that this flick was really only ninety minutes). Despite strong work from Gyllenhaal, the film’s surreal stylings never really connects its themes. In trying to go for the artistic instead out of  concentrating on solid story telling, these pretensions may be ENEMY’s own worst enemy.

2.5 Out of 5