Film

Multiplicity

Name: Multiplicity
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance
Released: 1996
Cast: Michael Keaton, Andie MacDowell, Harris Yulin, Eugene Levy, Zack Duhame

Michael Keaton doubles down — literally — as an overworked construction foreman who clones himself to reclaim his evenings, then clones the clone when even that isn't enough. It's a broad, big-hearted studio comedy about the impossibility of being everything to everyone, played mostly for slapstick but with a surprisingly tender ache underneath. Good for anyone who's ever wished for a spare version of themselves to handle the boring bits.

TMDb rating

5.8

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Mrs. Doubtfire1993

Robin Williams disguises himself as his own children's nanny to stay close to the family he's losing — same ache of a man trying to be in two places at once, filtered through disguise instead of cloning.

But The custody backstory and the drag premise land differently now than they did in 1993.

The Nutty Professor1996

Eddie Murphy plays an entire family of alter egos born from a genetic experiment gone sideways — riotous prosthetic-heavy physical comedy that shares Multiplicity's DNA almost literally.

But The fat-suit humour is broader and less generous than Keaton's film, and some of it hasn't aged well.

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Dead Ringers1988

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Twins1988no page yet

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito are genetically engineered twins raised apart into wildly different men — a high-concept genetics comedy that's all charm and mismatched-buddy chemistry.

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Liar Liar1997no page yet

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The Family Man2000no page yet

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Jim Carrey's frustrated everyman is handed godlike powers to fix his overwhelmed life, and predictably makes a mess of it — same fantasy-solves-burnout engine as Multiplicity, dialled up to cosmic scale.

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Vice Versa1988no page yet

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Three Identical Strangers2018

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