theNomad’s review published on Letterboxd:
“No offense mate, but your pretty unnoticeable. A none person.” - Harris (Noah Taylor)
The Double's not the thriller its billed as, its a doomed romantic comedy about a man gaining the confidence to live and love. Its also a movie filled with shades.
Shades of 'Kafka'/'Brazil' the paranoia of the system crashing in on a lone man viewing the monotonous daily grind, in a murky, cold, emotionless world.
Shades of 'Fight Club' the arrival of his double doing all the things he wanted do, but never having the balls.
...its also got many, many SHADES of grey (both thematically and visually).
Damn, this is so hard. Because since he appeared in cult horror/scifi show parody Darkplace, I've been a huge, huge fan of Richard Ayoade. Its hard to see people you respect fail. But The Double only his second feature mind, bored me senseless. The characters felt unoriginal and uninteresting, the plot just hung lifeless for most its duration. Even the few brief interludes of action, looked cheaply staged. Its almost like seeing a rough work in progress cut, before the tech and editing wizards flesh it out later. You can't even blame the source because its based on renowned Russian author Dostoevsky.
I must confess, I was at a massive disadvantage going into it because one Jesse Eisenberg is more than enough for me to take, but two pushed me over my breaking point. Thankfully it had a few nice surprises so as not to have been a complete waste of time, like the always great Noah Taylor as Harris. And the woaaahhh its Chris 'f'cking' Morris moment, 'I mean sure' its his Nathan Barley/The It Crowd buddies movie, but the elusive British comedy legend rarely does appearances, even cameos.
[Personal Reasons For Remembering]
I'll probably remember it as the 'The It Crowd' reunion movie.