Duplex (film)
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Duplex is a 2003 American/German black comedy film directed by Danny DeVito, and starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore.
The film was called Our House for its UK and Irish release.
Plot
Young and happily wedded couple, novelist Alex Rose and lifestyle magazine writer Nancy Kendricks, are looking for the right place at the right price to live in New York City so they can build a home and start a family. Their search comes to an end when the realtor Kenneth shows them a unit in a beautifully appointed turn-of-the-century Brooklyn brownstone house which, much to their surprise, is actually a sumptuous duplex. However, a minus: a current tenant in the form of Mrs. Connelly, an elderly tenant who resides in a sublet portion of the second floor of the duplex apartment afforded under the protections of rent control. They are at first reluctant to purchase the unit, but ultimately agree on the basis of, among other things, the assumption that Mrs. Connelly should not be terribly long for this world and when she passes on they will regain control of the upper floor of the duplex and their apartment will not only double in space, but in value as well.
Soon after moving in, Alex and Nancy reach out to Mrs. Connelly, ostensibly in neighborly friendship but actually to get a look at the second floor of the duplex, bringing her a bottle of wine as a gift, but she politely declines it, claiming it's a sin to drink. Chatting with the old lady (and nibbling on snacks well past their expiration date), she tells Alex and Nancy about her late husband Richard, who was a sailor half a century ago. Incidentally, her pet macaw is named 'Little Dick', after Richard.
Later that night Alex and Nancy fail to get a decent night's sleep as Mrs. Connelly listens to an obnoxious choice of television programming at a ludicrously loud level of volume all night long. The next morning after Nancy goes to work, Alex is stymied in his efforts to work on his new novel by Mrs. Connelly who beseeches him to assist her in all manner of annoying chores; the next day manipulating him into accompanying her while she goes shopping. Much annoyed by her ability to convince Alex to assist her, Nancy and Alex decide to be firm and refuse to assist her, but still she manages to manipulate them into assisting her with her errands and chores.
Throwing a housewarming party, all of Alex and Nancy's friends, coworkers, and associates are duly impressed with the beautiful apartment. Nancy shows her coworkers around the apartment and, assuming Mrs. Connelly was off at her brass band ensemble performance that evening, goes to show them the second floor. However, Mrs. Connelly is at home and when Nancy admits herself with her spare key, Mrs. Connelly employs pepper spray in self-defense against her boss Herman and a coworker, sending Herman falling down the stairs. An unsympathetic police officer, Officer Dan, reports on the scene and, siding with Mrs. Connelly, warns Alex and Nancy that he will be "keeping an eye" on the couple from then on.
Trying a new approach, Alex and Nancy decide to try and convince Mrs. Connelly to leave by plying her with a box of chocolates and informing her that they are going to need the upstairs because they want the space for a baby. Unconvinced by the few prospects they pitch at first, she seems convinced by an idea to move to Ireland. Just on the verge of agreeing to do it, she starts to choke on a chocolate. Performing the Heimlich maneuver on her, Alex drops Mrs. Connelly after the chocolate flies out she passes out. Attempting to perform CPR, Nancy straddles Mrs. Connelly while Alex administers the mouth-to-mouth. However, Mrs. Connelly revives but gets the totally wrong idea with her lipstick smeared all over Alex's mouth and Nancy's hands on her chest. A subsequent questioning at the police station by an again unhearing, unsympathetic Officer Dan, events are skewed against Nancy and Alex who are painted black by Mrs. Connelly.
In a final rush to complete his novel Alex opts to leave the apartment and write his novel outside for the remaining days before the submission deadline, where he is triumphant. Returning home the day before the deadline, a frantic Mrs. Connelly rushes to the front door and beseeches Alex to help her, claiming she'd seen a huge rat. He accompanies her upstairs to investigate. Spotting the rat (actually a mouse), Mrs. Connelly siezes a pile of books, not noticing that Alex's notebook laptop is on top, and throws them at the mouse, but they miss and the computer slides right into her burning fireplace. Removing it from the flames, Alex runs downstairs and outside but trips at the last minute on the steps and his computer is sent flying out into the street where it is run over by a tow truck and destroyed.
Now faced the sobering reality that both of them are out of work and ostensibly with little or no financial savings, their machinations to deal with the problem of Mrs. Connelly take a decidedly sinister turn. On the subway one day Alex, seeing a newspaper headline about a particularly virulent strain of the flu (whom the young and elderly are at particular risk from) deliberately catches the flu, and subsequently spreading it to his wife, attempt to pass it on to Mrs. Connelly. Their next attempt is to head up to her apartment and sabotage her home by letting gas seep out of her stove, putting salt in her sugar bowl, and re-wiring her electrical settings but to their chagrin, these schemes backfire on them. Late that night, as they lie in bed, the leak drips directly onto their heads and gives Alex an idea. Alex tells Mrs. Connelly it's leaking again and sabotages the pipes and allows the leak to compromise the floor, aided by a corrosive liquid which he sprays through a hole in the ceiling created by the leak onto the woodwork between the floors. The water stain on the ceiling grows to enormous size over the course of time and finally, as Mrs. Connelly dances to a televised performance of Riverdance, the floor collapses, but Mrs. Connelly once again avoids serious injury/death through pure luck. Her television crashes through the huge opening and breaks, and Officer Dan, learning that Alex had been in her apartment to look at the pipes previously, issues him a fine for illegally plumbing and also coerces him to purchase a new television for Mrs. Connelly.
Increasingly desperate, Alex purchases a gun, but in a mishap, Nancy accidentally fires the gun at Alex and hits him in the groin and in the subsequent emergency room visit, Nancy is accused of spousal abuse by Officer Dan during his questioning. Next, the couple sneak into Mrs. Connelly's apartment very late one night, intent on smothering her with a pillow but she is awake and waiting in the dark smoking a cigarette. In a small about-face, her doddering, sweet nature is abruptly dropped. Mrs. Connelly seems to be quite aware of how annoying she has been but is determined to remain so and determined to remain in the apartment and she coldly ushers them back to the dumbwaiter shaft and tells them they're going to be one big happy family.
In the final straw, Mrs. Connelly, blasting at full volume the brand new television and sound system Alex was obligated to purchase, thus sending destructive tremors through the downstairs apartment, Alex and Nancy hire Chick, the hitman, to get rid of her once and for all. However, his asking price for doing the hit is $US25,000. Unable to initially come up with the money, Alex approaches Coop to ask for a loan, but is rebuffed. Desperate and needing the money in two days hence, they sell almost every possession they own to pay Chick who will do the hit on Christmas Eve.
At the appointed time, Chick shows up and gains entrance to Mrs. Connelly's apartment through the dumbwaiter shaft. While this is going on, Officer Dan shows up with Christmas carolers and a plate of cookies, and is insistent on delivering the cookies to Mrs. Connelly himself. Afraid his arrival will derail Chick from his task, Nancy "attacks" Alex, taking advantage of the allegations of spousal abuse to distract officer Dan. He intercedes and departs, leaving Alex and Nancy.
However, in a new twist which implies there is more going on than originally meets the eye, Mrs. Connelly anticipates the attack ("I knew they'd send a pro"). Ready and waiting, she defends herself with her husband's antique harpoon gun, hitting Chick in the shoulder and nearly disabling him. She then attacks him and scorns his "bringing a knife to a gun fight", but he manages to overpower her still and staggers out of the duplex, leaving her unconscious on the floor. Meanwhile, during Chick's struggle with Mrs. Connelly, her Christmas tree lands in the fireplace and ignites a large blaze in the apartment. After experiencing a change of heart, Alex and Nancy rescue Mrs. Connelly and Little Dick from the fire and call the fire department.
Alex and Nancy finally decide to evict themselves and sell the apartment. Just before leaving, they meet the new owners but neglect to inform them of the rather pesky tenant. Just before leaving, Kenneth insists they say goodbye to Mrs. Connelly but they discover that Mrs. Connelly has died peacefully in her sleep.
It is ultimately revealed that Kenneth, Officer Dan, and Mrs. Connelly (who is well and alive) are all in together on an elaborate and oft-repeated scheme.
Cast
- Ben Stiller as Alex Rose
- Drew Barrymore as Nancy Kendricks
- Eileen Essell as Mrs. Connelly
- Harvey Fierstein as Kenneth
- Justin Theroux as Coop
- James Remar as Chick
- Robert Wisdom as Officer Dan
- Swoosie Kurtz as Jean
- Wallace Shawn as Herman
- Maya Rudolph as Tara
- Amber Valletta as Celine
- Michelle Krusiec as Dr. Kang
- Tracey Walter as Pharmacy Customer
- Danny DeVito as Narrator (voice)
Reception
The film received mixed reviews. The film has a 6.4 on Metacritic, and a 37% rotten on Rotten Tomatoes.
It made, on a $US40 million budget, $US9,692,135 in the US and the equivalent of $US19,322,135 worldwide.
