From NetFlix:
Play Preview Julia Roberts and Clive Owen co-star in this curveball-throwing thriller as a pair of romantically involved corporate operatives who are entangled in a bitter rivalry between two mammoth pharmaceutical companies. Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson convincingly round out the heavyweight cast as warring big pharma CEOs in this intriguing espionage effort from writer-director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton).
From the viewpoint of plot, I found this film very complicated. Nonetheless, even if you miss some details, you can still enjoy all the twists, especially the very end of the film. Pay attention to the fight occuring in the very start of the film. Then at the end of the film try and recall that fight because at that point the fight makes sense.
Paul Giamatti has found (fallen into ?) a niche as a demoniacal plotter (see Shoot Em’ Up, my favorite Clive Owen flm).
For me the major attraction was hopefully the interaction between Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. Whereas Clive Owen was his usual forceful bad-boy self, Julia Roberts’ delivery seemed a bit flat. Give this film at most a B.
Theory has it that the script was the one of the biggest “must-haves” but the magic did not completely translate on screen.
It was highly rated. I had to get back to it a couple of times so that it held my interest. I did make it to the end. It was not super intriguing. I agree it was a B although some family members thought it was an A.