BOTTOM LINE: There's nothing new in this 'thriller' that you haven't seen before, and the visuals are quite ordinary; only the likeability of the cast make this worth spending any time on.

THE GOOD: 'Deception' follows an age-old premise that a director like Alfred Hitchcock would have milked for all it was worth. A young, naive accountant Jonathan (McGregor) who hasn't lived his life is befriended by an older, slick, hot-shot lawyer Wyatt (Jackman) who introduces him to a private sex club where participants only contact other participants for sex; no names, no details, no conversation. When Wyatt 'accidentally' switches his phone with Jonathan's, the latter is pulled in to the world of the sex club which he enjoys to full measure. It's only when he meets a stunning blonde (Michelle Williams) that he starts to fall for her and eventually pulls him in to a deceptive trap set by Wyatt. There's a lot to like about the premise, and there's a seedy, unspoken quality to the proceedings which you know will only lead Jonathan in to trouble. The cast is the standout in this film; Hugh Jackman does a surprisingly good turn as bad guy Wyatt, Ewan McGregor does quite well with his badly written part of Jonathan, and Michelle Williams is quite reasonable as the mysterious blonde "S" whom Jonathan falls for.

THE BAD: There is absolutely nothing new here that you haven't already seen in some other guise elsewhere to the point where you can guess exactly how it will end; unfortunately that makes the film boring and un-thrilling. It's not helped by some rather average camerawork; much like a television show, all the visuals are rather close-in to the action, hardly ever taking advantage of the big screen they had to fill (what's with all the shaky camerawork these days - are all these filmmakers inspired by Paul Greengrass?). Ewan McGregor, despite being a strong actor and managing to do extremely well in this film has unfortunately got a rather pathetic role to play. It might have looked good on paper but in reality it's quite silly; maybe we live in a world where it's hard to imagine being duped the way he is in this film, or even how he falls in love with "S" just by bumping in to her on the subway one night. It just didn't work for me. And Michelle Williams? As lovely as she is, I don't believe she was the right person for this part. All of these problems obviously link back to the filmmakers, leaving a film which smacks of a 'training run' for a first-timer wanting to get their feet wet, where everything is by the numbers and nothing interesting or new is imparted.