Review: Dead Ringers

Jeremy Irons plays the Mantle twins (who in the real-life story were actually the Marcus twins) two respected gynaecologists. Smart and gregarious cad Elliott and his more reserved, bookworm brother Beverly. Yes, Beverly. They are extremely close and share a clinic, an apartment, and even share the same women. The film is mostly focussed on the latter, as they both engage in a sexual relationship with patient and actress Claire Niveau (played by Genevieve Bujold) without her being any the wiser to the impersonation act. At least at first. Eventually she works it out and is angry, but by this time Beverly has developed romantic feelings for her, and her swift exit to film a movie sends him into a depression.

 

If you love your David Cronenberg, you’ll love this very David Cronenberg movie from 1988. It’s got ‘body horror’, gynaecology, cold blood in its veins, chilly atmosphere, performances, and characters. If that’s your thing, just go ahead and watch the film already. For me, I loved “The Fly” and very much liked “The Dead Zone” and “Scanners”, but otherwise don’t have a whole lot of tolerance for Cronenberg’s chilliness to be honest. When you add the not very warm-blooded Jeremy Irons playing two roles, and the equally chilly Genevieve Bujold in support, this was always going to be a struggle for me. I ended up liking some of it, but the chilliness and some confusion hold me back from recommending it to anyone outside of the brotherhood.

 

You’d think that Jeremy Irons would be absolutely perfectly cast here, he and Cronenberg would seem a perfect match for one another. However, the problem with Irons is, well-cast or not he’s not an innately appealing actor and more importantly neither of the characters he plays seems terribly sympathetic, so the difference between the two twin brothers is occasionally too difficult to ascertain, and not in any beneficial way. It’s a bit confusing at times. Scripted by Cronenberg and Norman Snider (“Body Parts”, “Rated X”, “Casino Jack”), I did like Bujold’s line ‘You’re subtly schizophrenic’ as she slowly starts to put it together.

 

Exactly the movie Cronenberg wanted to make, I’m quite sure. Suitably weird, creepy, and I love the touch that it involves someone intimately involved with women’s health/bodies. So I liked some of this quite a bit. However, some confusion and an overall unappealing chill hold me back from fully embracing this one. I’ll understand fully if you disagree, and Jeremy Irons is in a way perfectly cast, but this one’s just not for me.

 

Rating: C+