Duplex (2003)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Larry Doyle
Directed by Danny DeVito
Starring Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Eileen Eisel, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Wisdom, and Wallace Shawn

Features:

• Behind-the-Scenes Special
  
• Deleted Scenes
  

My Advice: Rent it

Alex (Stiller) and Nancy (Barrymore) have just gotten married and are looking for their dream home in New York. Thanks to their real estate agent, Kenneth (Fierstein), they find a wonderful duplex with an aging woman named Mrs. Connelly (Eisel) living upstairs. They buy the duplex in the hopes that, when she shuffles off this mortal coil, they will be able to take over her portion of the duplex and have their dream home. However, it seems that she is in better health than they originally thought, and to make matters worse, she is constantly sticking her nose in their business. So much so, that they begin to have visions of taking her out themselves.

How refresing! They just don't make dark comedies like this anymore. The setup of these two lovers is impeccable. Stiller's character is run through the mill by this old woman. The most horrible scene in the movie is the one where his laptop is run over by a trash truck. DeVito and Eisel did an outstanding job of making the old woman into a holy terror that you just can't bring yourself to hate. Barrymore is never more at home when she is able to stretch her comic legs and just be silly. Her character and the relationship with Stiller's is very believable and a lot of fun. If you are not a fan of dark comedies, you might not understand or appreciate the ending of the movie, but I would argue that it could not have ended any other way.

The DVD is simple, thought it could have been better than it is. The Behind-the-Scenes Special is a loose connection of documentary style shots of...you guessed it...behind the scenes. They are not narrated in any way, and there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them whatsoever. Still, there are a few moments that are worth watching. I guess its as close as we will get to a gag reel for this movie. The deleted scenes are just a waste of time and space on the disc. There are only three of them and it is instantly obvious as to why they were cut.

There is no commentary track attached to the deleted scenes or the film, for that matter. It's just a shame that DeVito didn't have his commentary on this DVD. I would loved to have heard him talk about this movie, since he was also responsible for another great dark comedy, War of the Roses. Or even a fifteen minute presentation of him and the screenwriters talking about their work. I guess it's understandable the Miramax didn't want to sink a lot of money into this, having sunk a great deal of coin into the film itself--and not getting it back.

This movie is worth the rental, but this incarnation of the DVD is just not worth making the purchase.