Deception (2008)

As Wyatt, a sleek corporate lawyer in the lousy, sex-without-love-is-for-dirty-people thriller Deception, Hugh Jackman sports the artfully brushed-back haircut of a guy who regularly Gets Some. As Jonathan, a meek workaholic accountant, Ewan McGregor parts his hair in the naïf style of a guy who Barely Gets Any. Still, the sharky swordsman makes a show of befriending the virginal-looking dweeb, and it's not long before a convenient cell-phone mix-up has Jonathan living the swinging sex-club life he thought only went to dudes like Wyatt. (Charlotte Rampling makes a random cameo appearance as a swinger with cougar allure.) But then Jonathan goes and falls for one of the ladies, a gently bruised blonde peach played, perhaps now to her regret, by Michelle Williams. And the fast life starts to go terribly wrong.

As for Deception, everything is wrong pretty much from the start of this misbegotten adventure in Adrian Lyne territory, including but not limited to the strained mind games that drive the plot, and the tentative New York accents on the actors from Australia and Scotland. D

You Might Also Like

• DVD Review Deception (Sep 23, 2008) | Clark Collis
• Style Hunter Style hunter: You liked it? Here's how to get it! (Nov 21, 2008) | Lindsay Soll
• Movie Spotlight 2009 movies: The year of the werewolf (Nov 21, 2008) | Tanner Stransky
• Oscars 2009 Hugh Jackman: Oscars' sexiest host? | Missy Schwartz
• Photo Gallery Kidman and Jackman: Shirtless!
• Movie Review The Haunting in Connecticut (Jun 19, 2009) | Adam Markovitz