Deception was a film that caught me off guard. I couldn’t quite make up my mind if I loved it or hated it. I enjoy good suspense driven thrillers and found the storyline to be quite interesting and thought the casting and acting was superb. However, I was very disappointed with the execution of the film and its overall predictability.

Hughes Jackman plays Wyatt Bose, a successful lawyer/playboy who at first glance seems to have life all figured out. Jackman played his role quite well and was cold and villainous when he had to be, yet quite charming and likable otherwise. I think he did exceptionally well in this typecast and it would be quite interesting to see him in more of the same.

Ewan McGregor also put on a notable performance as roaming accountant Jonathan McQuarry. The transformation from geek to bad boy was done very smoothly and I thought he transitioned to his new character very well. It was just nice to see that he was not stuck in the “May the Force be with You” persona and could take on other roles fairly easily. Finally, there is Dawson’s Creek star Michelle Williams. The vulnerability of her character made her extremely hot in this movie, and to be completely honest with you, that’s all she needed for her role. She was perfect.

Deception did have its fair share of negatives points as well. The most notable being this films predictability and poor execution. There were areas where I would actually start to feel the plot beginning to build to a nice level, and then “Boom”, it would fall flat on its back. I’m not sure how many times I felt this way, but it was one too many times for my taste.

It also didn’t take long to realize that McQuarry was being conned into something job related. Yes, I realized before the film that ultimately something bad would happen, but it would have been nice if there was some kind of twist to it. Whomever thought of the twist for this film did a pretty lousy job, because it didn’t surprise me at all.

Overall, I’d say this film is worth a afternoon movie rental. The characters were likable and the general plot was agreeable, but this film could have been done so much better if executed differently.

Synopsis:

A disconnected accountant finds his mundane life injected with a new sense of urgency after striking up a friendship with a charismatic attorney in director Marcel Langenegger’s sexually charged action thriller. Jonathan (Ewan McGregor) is an accountant who has lost his passion in life. When his powerful new lawyer friend, Wyatt (Hugh Jackman), introduces Jonathan to a salacious underground sex club called The List, the dejected accountant soon believes he has found the woman of his dreams (Michelle Williams). His newfound happiness takes a turn for the worse, however, when Jonathan is named the prime suspect in the woman’s disappearance as well as the theft of 20 million dollars. – Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide