Sometimes to get more out of life, you have to make more of yourself.
Construction worker Doug Kinney finds that the pressures of his working life, combined with his duties to his wife Laura and daughter Jennifer leaves him with little time for himself. However, he is approached by geneticist Dr. Owen Leeds, who offers Doug a rather unusual solution to his problems: cloning.
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Character
Comic, resolved, classical in form and warm.
- gravecomic
- resolvedopen-ended
- classical in formformally daring
- warmbleak
- effortlessdemanding
Who loves it, who doesn't
35 profiled raters. Loved most by The Comfort Seekers; disliked most by The Provocateurs.
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“Is Multiplicity too gentle for its own good?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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“Is this Harold Ramis's best work?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- John Chardon TMDB · Jul 20207/10
Keaton on top form in a very charming and enjoyable sci-fi comedy picture. Doug Kinney never has enough time to do what he wants to do, his life is frantic and his family life is strained, then one day he gets the chance to have himself duplicated. It would seem that a lot of complaints about this film are about it being a waste of a good premise, well for sure Multiplicity is far from being a comic masterpiece, but to say it doesn't deliver laughs set amongst its charming romantic heart, is a touch unfair I feel. What we get here is four Doug Kinney's, each one having their own driving personality to make it real easy for the audience to distinguish which is which. So, with Michael Keaton delivering four excellent performances as the Dougs, the comic relief flows pretty much all through the picture. However, director Harold Ramis is guilty of staying safe with the material to hand because from the off the conclusion is never in doubt, the feel good factor is evident even as the Dougs are chaotically imploding. But is that really a reason to do the film down? Well no as far as I'm concerned, Multiplicity is a tidy fusion of sci-fi comedy and romance that isn't taking the science li
Read the whole review on TMDB - misubisuon TMDB · Nov 2025
## **Multiplicity (1996) Review: An Overlooked Gem of 90s Comedy - 8/10** In the landscape of 90s comedies, *Multiplicity* often gets lost in the shuffle, dismissed by some as a high-concept gag that can't sustain a feature film. However, to write it off is to miss one of Michael Keaton's most deceptively brilliant performances and a surprisingly thoughtful, albeit silly, exploration of work-life balance and self-identity. ### The Premise: A Solution That Becomes the Problem Doug Kinney (Keaton) is an overworked construction manager whose life is stretched thin between his demanding job and his responsibilities as a husband and father. His salvation appears in the form of a scientist offering a radical solution: cloning. Doug eagerly creates a duplicate of himself to share the load, but soon finds that two Dougs aren't enough, leading to three, then four... and the chaos that inevitably follows. ### The Triumph: Michael Keaton vs. Michael Keaton The common criticism is that the film's clone-based humour is repetitive, but this misses the point entirely. The movie's success lives and dies on Michael Keaton's ability to create four distinct, believable, and hilarious characters... an
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Cast
- Michael KeatonDoug Kinney
- Andie MacDowellLaura Kinney
- Harris YulinLeeds
- Eugene LevyVic
- Zack DuhameZack Kinney
- Katie SchlossbergJennifer Kinney
- Richard MasurDel King
- Ann CusackNoreen
- John de LancieTed
- Judith KahanFranny
Crew
- Harold RamisDirector
- Mary HaleScreenplay
- Lowell GanzScreenplay
- Babaloo MandelScreenplay
- László KovácsDirector of Photography
- George FentonOriginal Music Composer
- Pembroke J. HerringEditor
- Craig HerringEditor
- Lee R. MayesProducer
- Harold RamisProducer
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