Duplex (film)
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Danny DeVito |
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| Written by | Larry Doyle |
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| Narrated by | Danny DeVito |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Anastas Michos |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million |
| Box office | $19.3 million |
Duplex is a 2003 American comedy film directed by Danny DeVito, and starring Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore. The film was called Our House for its release in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Alex Rose (Ben Stiller) and Nancy Kendricks (Drew Barrymore) are a young, professional, married New York couple in search of their dream home. When they finally find the perfect Brooklyn brownstone, they are giddy with anticipation. The duplex is a dream come true, complete with multiple fireplaces, except for one thing: Mrs. Connelly (Eileen Essell), the old lady who lives on the rent-controlled top floor. Assuming she is elderly and ill, they take the apartment.
However, they soon realize that Mrs. Connelly is in fact an energetic senior who enjoys watching her television at top volume day and night and rehearsing in a brass band. As a writer, Alex is attempting to finish his novel against a looming deadline. However, he is interrupted daily by Mrs. Connelly's numerous demands and requests, and what begins as a nuisance quickly escalates into an all-out war. Alex and Nancy try to get Mrs. Connelly to move out, but she refuses. Next, they try to file a noise complaint against her, but discover that she has already gone to the police first and filed a harassing complaint against them. Mrs. Connelly soon turns all of Alex and Nancy's friends against them by play-acting as the "poor, innocent, old lady" and makes it appear that the young couple are out to harm her.
When Nancy loses her job and Alex misses his deadline (all because of the old lady's antics) the pair are trapped at home together with Mrs. Connelly with no place to go. Their rage turns to homicidal fantasy as they plot ways to get rid of their manipulative, no-good neighbor. After peace overtunes and a break-in lead to nothing, Alex and Nancy decide to hire a hitman, named Chick (James Remar), to kill her. However, his asking price for doing the hit is $25,000. Unable to initially come up with the money, Alex approaches his friend and fellow writer, Coop, to ask for a loan, but is rudely rebuffed. Desperate and needing the money in two days, they sell almost every possession they own to pay Chick who will do the hit on Christmas Eve. Chick does break into Mrs. Connelly's apartment as planned, but fails to kill her when she defends herself with her speargun by shooting him in the shoulder, forcing him to flee, and the couple in fact have to rescue the old woman when the struggle results in a fire in her apartment.
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