5 recommendations

Deception

Editorial Review

The hearts of the female population are probably all a-flutter at the idea of a Hugh Jackman/Ewan McGregor film hinging on a London "sex club". But even the most ardent fans of these dashing dudes will struggle to be fully aroused by their flashy yet flaccid mystery movie.

Not that Deception is a complete turn-off; just that it never cultivates its big names and reasonable foundation in to a film that doesn't resemble something you've seen countless times.

Arriving with less publicity than a new Rob Schneider movie, Deception proves to be a slick B-flick about no-friends accountant Jonathan (McGregor) who clings to suave stranger Wyatt (Jackman). When Jonathan accidentally picks up Wyatt's phone, and accepts an alluring call, he enters a secret sex society based on consensual prostitution among white-collar professionals.

After we see McGregor's posterior in a shagging montage generating all the heat of a winter morning, Jonathan falls for "S" (Michelle Williams). Naturally, this opens a can of worms involving double-cross – really? In a movie called Deception? – stitch-ups, greed and a protracted finale in Spain.

Sharing a solid chemistry, McGregor and Jackman don't quite have the darkness to make their machinations stick. This leaves their standard "innocent man vs puppet-master" tussle as just that, with debut feature director Mark Langenegger proving more interested in set design than designing tension, chills or titillation.

Hilton Thomas