JULIA Roberts is one cool superstar. At the height of her fame and clout as the biggest female star in Hollywood, she went on leave from her stellar career to start a family. Other stars would hesitate to risk so much?but then, they aren?t Julia Roberts.

So, the popular and acclaimed actress ?gave up? stardom for a few years, encouraging other, younger female luminaries to make their bid for preeminent stardom. If one of them had been successful, Roberts? eventful comeback would have been critically compromised.

Rising stars

Some rising stars did come to the fore and chalked up extra points, like Angelina Jolie, Megan Fox and Kristen Stewart (?Twilight?). But, none of them was able to clinch the top spot vacated by Roberts, so when she resumed making movies, the field was still wide open for her to reclaim.

But, most of her recent movie portrayals have been relative cameos, so her fans have been looking forward to her first major comeback performance. After a long wait, that?s finally come by way of the romantic thriller, ?Duplicity,? where she costars with British thespic fave, Clive Owen, under Tony Gilroy?s savvy direction.

In ?Duplicity,? Roberts and Owen play former top sleuths who are now in the employ of top business moguls who pay them a lot of money to engage in corporate espionage.

Secret formula

Specifically, they are hired to ferret out the top-secret formula for a new product that?s expected to make billions of dollars for the corporation that is the first to launch it. As the corporate-espionage plot thickens, however, the two agents keep confounding each other at every turn, making everyone?the film?s viewers included?question the credibility of everything they say and do. ?The movie isn?t titled ?Duplicity? for whimsical reasons, obviously.

To complicate things further, Roberts and Owen?s characters get involved on a personal, romantic level, as well. So, how do lovers and rivals who can?t trust each other manage to make sense of their professional and personal lives? The answer to that key question is what makes ?Duplicity? a fascinatingly engrossing viewing experience.

The good news is that, after her cameo roles in recent productions, Roberts? portrayal here is full-blown and many-layered, as she addresses an acting challenge that?s big enough to engage a major star?s thespic abilities.

Even better she?s found the perfect partner in Owen for a film format of this type. Their scenes together crackle with energy and chemistry, as their characters look for the lie in the ?truth,? and vice-versa.

Best of all, the comebacking actress shows in ?Duplicity? that she?s matured and deepened as a film actress, effortlessly shifting from sophistication to dirty brawling, to viewers? delight and enhanced involvement. Hollywood?s Queen Julia is back on her throne?long may she continue to reign!