Synopsis
Doug Kinney (Michael Keaton) is a Los Angeles construction worker whose job is constantly getting in the way of his family. On one job to build a new wing of a scientific facility, Doug meets up with Dr. Leeds, a friendly scientist who has developed a successful method for cloning humans, and is introduced to Dr. Leeds' clone as proof. The scientist, who is sympathetic to Doug's troubles, allows Doug to make a clone of himself that can take over for him at work, while he tries to spend some quality time with his family. The clone, called "Two" (who calls himself Lance), has all of Doug's memory and knowledge, but is overly macho. Although the clone seems to be a dream come true, while taking his wife, Laura (Andie MacDowell), out to a restaurant for dinner, he finds that two is on his own date. Doug realizes clones are not as great as they seem, and Doug begins to worry about his clone being revealed.
Eventually two more clones are made. "Three" (who calls himself Rico) is a sharp contrast to Two, and extremely sensitive and thoughtful. He is much like a housewife, knowing how to cook very well, and take care of the house. ("Two" considers him a 'wuss'). "Four" (whose name is not Steve, but refers to Doug as Steve, and is later named Lenny) is cloned from "Two", and has the mentality of an overly-curious child. Unfortunately, since he is a clone-of-a-clone, his IQ is considerably lower than that of his predecessors, since the personality defects are more pronounced when a clone is cloned (the analogy from the movie refers to how a copy of a copy may not be as 'sharp' as the original), and this causes an annoyed Doug to decree a moratorium on cloning. One night Doug leaves home for a business trip. While Doug is gone, each of the clones runs into Laura and each one sleeps with her. The next day, "Two" comes down with a cold and is unable to go to work, so he sends "Three". Three is the second clone, so he knows nothing about construction. As "Three" goes to work, an inspection on site causes "Three" to unimpress the inspector, which leads to him losing Doug's job.
As the movie progresses, Doug's wife becomes increasingly upset with her husband, as she is wondering about Doug's sudden personality changes and how Doug's clones have no memories of discussions Laura unwittingly had with another clone. Thinking Doug is ignoring her, she unknowingly pours out her heart out to "Four", mentioning how (Doug) has never kept his promise on fixing the house; she asks him what he wants and is unromantically told "I want pizza". Upset, she takes the children to live with her parents. When Doug returns, he learns that Laura and the kids have left. He also learns from the clones' confessions that he has lost his job and each one of them has slept with Laura. Trying to figure out how to get Laura back, "Four" tells him about what she said to him on how he never fixed the house. With the help of the clones, Doug remodels the house and wins back the love of his wife. Doug also tells Laura he is planning to start his own construction business. Realizing Doug can take care of himself now, the three clones move away, later writing Doug that they have set up a successful pizzeria called "Three Guys from Nowhere" in Miami, Florida. "Two" becomes the businessman of the shop and serves customers, and also gets to meet lots of women. "Three" is the head chef, and "Four" is the delivery boy as well as taking a second job as a paperboy (It's shown in the end of the film that he tosses a pizza box at a nearby house in the style of a paperboy throw).
Read more about this topic: Multiplicity (film)