While he is relatively beloved, based on his endearing personality that makes it impossible to harbour any negative feelings towards him, as well as his universally adored style of acting,  Danny DeVito’s work often tends to go overlooked, at least in terms of his directorial output. Throw Momma from the Train is a classic and his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s timeless Matilda is adored by children and adults across the world. Yet, its those that exist in between that are most forgotten, despite these films usually being his most ingenious and well-crafted, for many different reasons. Arguably, these tend to be the ones in which he takes the broadest swings, which makes sense considering that they are not always entirely convincing when it comes to their subject matter. This hasn’t stopped many of them from attaining cult status, and we now look at films like The War of the Roses and  Death to Smoochy with a lot of fondness. One film that is patiently waiting to be re-assessed as being much better than many believed it to be at the time is Duplex, a pitch black comedy in which DeVito spins a terrific yarn about a yuppie couple looking for a home in New York City, and believe they have found it in the form of a Brooklyn duplex. The only problem is that the upstairs apartment is occupied by a sweet old lady, and as part of her rental agreement, she cannot be evicted. This only makes matters more complicated when she proves to be far less endearing than she seemed to be at the start, and the couple begins to believe that she may have ulterior motives as she slowly begins to test their patience and eventually their sanity. A wickedly funny and borderline perverse film, Duplex is quite a daring achievement, and while it may not always be consistent in its vision, it still manages to be extremely effective and bitingly funny, despite its sometimes strange approach to the material, albeit one that does allow DeVito to venture into unchartered territory in terms of the narrative and how it is brought to life on screen.

The exact impetus for this story is not entirely clear – there are implications that it is based on a true story, considering the supposedly metafictional ending, but its not made obvious whether DeVito or screenwriter Larry Doyle were inspired by something in reality, or simply siphoning their disdain for rental laws and bad tenants into a film that directly addresses these issues. Duplex is not a terribly complicated film in terms of plot, but it does prove to be much more layered than we initially would expect, at least based on the premise. This film is a darkly comical satire about the property market, which has always been a hot-button issue in the United States, particularly amongst young urban professionals who are seeking a place to start their lives, but usually have to navigate an abundance of bureaucratic red tape and a variety of other obstacles simply to even begin the process of acquiring property – and even in these instances, it can be troubling to realize that there are still challenges that come with such decisions. The film presents a sardonic and often quite bleak depiction of the process of purchasing a house (without even daring to venture into discussing the concept of rent and landlords in nearly as much detail as it should, with that being an entirely different conversation), as shown through a hilariously outrageous satire, one in which DeVito can make some of his most pointed and daring inquiries into social order and the status quo, both of which are concepts that he has used as the foundation for many of his films, and which is surprisingly well-captured throughout this film, a far more engaging project than we would initially anticipate based on the premise. Those looking for a hard-hitting account of the housing market are not going to be entirely satisfied with this film, but it does offer some intriguing observations that come from a place of experience and frustration, giving the film a true sense of authenticity, at least in terms of the underlying anger that propels the story forward.

One of the benefits of consistent working in Hollywood in different roles is the connections made along the way, and we have found that DeVito is one of the most well-connected individuals in the business, owing to several factors: his willingness to work constantly (he famous has declared that he never intends to retire), his determination to do good work off-screen in the position of director, writer and producer, and the fact that he has a reputation for being congenial and willing to do the hard work that some of his more pernickety peers are afraid to embrace. As a director, he has proven to be able to pull out the very best in his actors, and Duplex is a perfect example of this, considering it is almost entirely supported by the actors. Ben Stiller and Drew Barrymore (both of them at the peak of their popularity – Stiller was arguably one of the most famous voices in American comedy at the time, and Barrymore was beyond beloved. They’re both doing tremendous work, and while neither role is particularly daring, they are perfect leads considering the scope of the story and what was required from them as actors. This film doesn’t give too much emphasis to the two protagonists, whose purpose is merely to react to the increasingly outlandish antics of the film’s antagonist, the hilarious and deeply despicable Mrs Connelly, played brilliantly by Eileen Essell, who delivers a performance that is incredibly strange and unquestionably daring. Playing a villain of indeterminate age and intention, Essell is an absolute riot, being able to play into both the adorable grandmother trope and the deeply unsettling maniacal crone. There is even an argument to be made that Duplex is one of the last entries into the biddy horror sub-genre, since the entire premise is based around two individuals finding their lives uprooted by the antics of a particularly troublesome old woman who will do anything to get her way, even if resorting to violence. The dynamic between the three leads culminates in an outrageously funny film that is truly daring and features DeVito doing some exceptional work behind the camera.

Beyond the performances, we find that the reason Duplex works is that it doesn’t restrict itself to being one kind of film, and instead gleefully traverses several genres in its efforts to be a much more layered production. The film starts as a broad comedy-of-errors that circles slapstick humour, with the physical comedy being a vital component of the earlier portions. However, it grows steadily darker, and by the time we reach the climactic moments, the film has descended into a full-fledged psychological horror, which may seem like a hyperbolic assessment, but the sense of dread and existential angst, coupled with the overt absurdity that governs the story making it very clear that DeVito was striving to produce something much darker and more bleak, which is unexpected but still very welcome given the constraints with which he was working. He toggles between different genres, and while the film remains consistently very funny, the way the tone shifts is fascinating, and immediately warrants some degree of acclaim for how it consistently dares to do something different, even at its most conventional moments. We can never quite predict where the film is going to take us, and it becomes particularly effective when it intentionally ceases to draw the boundary between reality and fantasy, which gradually start to infringe on the dominion of the other, creating a more engaging and daring approach to humour that is not particularly recognized when it comes to directors like DeVito, who is a much more compelling craftstman than many would like to admit. His control over the tone of this film, which essentially depends almost entirely on its atmosphere, is incredible and elevates a relatively paltry narrative into something much more engaging and endearing, as well as daring to go further than many other films that tackle similar subject matter or thematic concepts.

The reasons for Duplex being viewed as divisive are not inexplicable – this is a film that takes multiple overly bold swings, and dares to do something different for almost the entire running time, which makes for a somewhat uncomfortable experience, albeit one that is not always unwarranted. It has been considered a failed attempt to revive the immense popularity of Throw Momma from the Train (widely thought to be the director’s masterpiece), and some have even tried to assert the idea that DeVito is somehow trying to work through his own frustrations with elderly women, an outlandish idea that would ironically fit perfectly into one of his films. Its a fascinating and well-constructed comedy that may sometimes border on the perverse, but which has a solid sense of humour and is helmed by someone who is used to navigating tricky narrative territory and infusing it with a genuinely off-the-wall sense of humour that can only emerge when handled by a director with a long history in the medium. It can often be slightly confusing, and its motivations are inexplicable at the best of times. Yet, it’s still such a delightfully irreverent and offbeat dark comedy, we can’t help but be utterly transfixed by many of its ideas, which flourish into such an engaging and wonderfully eccentric work. It has been viewed as a failure, but there’s been a slow and steady uptick in curiosity about the film, which has only become more reason to think that it is well on its way to becoming a cult classic, something that feels like a logical step forward for such a peculiar but fascinating work of comedy.