Julia Roberts and Clive Owen: Cute, but Underfed

Contrary to the gospel of Babe Paley, maybe you can't be too rich but you can be too thin. Saw Tony Gilroy's twisty "Duplicity" starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen last night. Stunned by how gaunt they are. Their hollow-cheeked characters, continent-hopping CIA and MI-6 agents gaming the system and each other, sip a lot of champagne but look as though they haven't had a full meal in a year. In the movie they don't meet cute, they meet underfed. (Admittely, even though they resemble stick figures, these immensely attractive actors nonetheless ooze charm.)

Still, they shouldn't listen to the late socialite Paley, who dictated "You can never be too rich or too thin." Better they should listen to Catherine Deneuve, who wisely said, "After 40, an actress has to choose between her face and her derriere." OK, she didn't say "derriere," she used a more vulgar term. But what she meant was, if your posterior is a soupcon round, you will have enough body fat for your face to stay round and cinegenic. And if your posterior is not, neither will your face be. Deneuve, still lovely at 66, knows her business.

Looking forward to "Duplicity?" Thoughts on Julia and Clive? I liked them in Mike Nichols' "Closer." And it must be said that Roberts has achieved a milestone few actresses do: She's been a star for 20 years.