A Double Life - DVD

George Cukor's perfectly mannered direction confidently guides this brooding and cynical film noir that is considered by many the highlight of actor Ronald Colman's great career. A Double Life explores the dangers of blurring the line between reality and illusion in this examination of the schizoid personality of a talented stage actor who begins to confuse his roles with his life. Colman gives a magnificent and mesmerizing performance as veteran thespian Anthony John, who begins to mentally derail during a run of Othello. John's courtly manners and reputation have a winning charm that endear him to both audiences and women, including his ex-wife, Brita (Signe Hasso), who acts opposite him in the play, and Pat (Shelley Winters), a sexy waitress he befriends. Colman's performance earned him a Best Actor Academy Award and Golden Globe. Miklos Rozsa also won an Oscar for his vivacious score and the film's director and screenwriters, Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin all received Oscar nominations. Edmond O'Brien co-stars as the company's producer who's secretly in love with Brita.

Simon James (Eisenberg) is a timid office clerk working in an ominous government organization. He is overlooked by his boss (Wallace Shawn) and colleagues, scorned by his mother, and ignored by Hannah (Wasikowska), the lovely copy room girl he pines for. Undermined and undervalued everywhere he turns, it seems that his directionless life couldn't get any worse-until the arrival of James Simon, his new co-worker. James is both Simon's exact physical double and his opposite-confident, charismatic and seductive with women. To Simon's horror, James slowly starts taking over his life. British director Richard Ayoade returns with this darkly comic adaptation of Dostoevsky's novella, featuring a tour de force dual performance from Jesse Eisenberg and co-starring Mia Wasikowska, alongside a strong ensemble cast including Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor and Cathy Moriarty.

Simon James (Eisenberg) is a timid office clerk working in an ominous government organization. He is overlooked by his boss (Wallace Shawn) and colleagues, scorned by his mother, and ignored by Hannah (Wasikowska), the lovely copy room girl he pines for. Undermined and undervalued everywhere he turns, it seems that his directionless life couldn't get any worse-until the arrival of James Simon, his new co-worker. James is both Simon's exact physical double and his opposite-confident, charismatic and seductive with women. To Simon's horror, James slowly starts taking over his life. British director Richard Ayoade returns with this darkly comic adaptation of Dostoevsky's novella, featuring a tour de force dual performance from Jesse Eisenberg and co-starring Mia Wasikowska, alongside a strong ensemble cast including Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor and Cathy Moriarty.