It requires a light touch; I admire Branagh a great deal, but not for his light touch.
Sleuth (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:117
Fresh:42
Rotten:75
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Sleuth is so obvious and coarse, rather than suspenseful and action-packed, that it does nothing to improve on the original version
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong language.
Runtime: 86 mins
Genre: Thriller, Murder, Theatrical Release, Remake
Theatrical Release:Oct 12, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $205,005
Synopsis: In 1972, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine starred in the screen adaptation of SLEUTH, based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Olivier played... In 1972, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine starred in the screen adaptation of SLEUTH, based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Olivier played Andrew Wyke, a droll old writer whose wife is having an affair with the young, ambitious Milo Tindle, played by Caine. Thirty-five years later, Caine is starring as Wyke in an updated version of SLEUTH, completely rewritten by Nobel Prizewinner Harold Pinter and directed by multiple Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh. Jude Law, who played the Michael Caine role in the 2004 remake of ALFIE, now takes over as Tindle, a hairdresser-actor who has shown up at Wyke's estate to demand that Wyke divorce his wife so Tindle can marry her. But the extremely successful and wealthy Wyke is not about to give up his wife without a very determined and well-calculated battle of wits. Wyke lives by himself in a home that features dozens of electronic gadgets and odd contraptions, forcing Tindle to always be on the lookout for something strange to happen. The cat-and-mouse game continues as Tindle and Wyke play mind games with each other in a thrilling contest of one-upsmanship that soon involves a gun. Caine is marvelous as Wyke, strutting through his home with the absolute confidence that he will get the best of Tindle, but Law, who is also one of the film's producers, holds up his end of the drama, giving as good as he gets. Branagh keeps a steady hand as director, not allowing the camera to get in the way of the two dueling characters, but Tim Harvey's unusual production design nearly steals the show. [More]
Starring: Michael Caine, Jude Law
Starring: Michael Caine, Jude Law
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter
Producer: Jude Law, Simon Halfon, Tom Sternberg, Marion Pilowksy, Kenneth Branagh, Simon Moseley
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
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Reviews for Sleuth
Idly plotted then tempered by a blunt ending. All of a sudden the viewer is left pondering 'eh?' as Pinter apparently run out of room on his pad.
Pinter's pauses, and the dour air of so much of the interplay, just don't fit on a story that's this slight.
Once the homosexual subtext is brought to the surface, everything seems to be a joke. Are they gay, kidding, or just considering?
The script includes a verbal motif that reminds us of what binds the film's four central talents together: 'I want to show you something.' [Blu-Ray review]
What this Sleuth lacks in enthusiasm it makes up in character-driven menace.
Despite Branagh's every attempt to capitalise on the intimacy of the cinematic medium with (intrusive) close-ups, the direction is heavy handed; the result being a dramatic, but emotionally cold experience
Goofy art house tendencies (including an ill-thought dalliance with homo-eroticism) trigger a few giggles, yet the clever, crisply-acted power struggle seizes your attention
Director Kenneth Branagh has mercifully pared the action down to 88 minutes (the first movie dragged on for 138), but the final act... still seems to go on forever.
What Pinter and Branagh present is a much more wicked, cold, disturbing film that is even more confined than the original.
Seems to me that the Kenneth Branagh-Harold Pinter Sleuth is a pretty good movie. It just isn't a very good Sleuth, exactly.
By the time the film ends on a flat note, it is long past the point of failing to effectively showcase a meeting of minds between two great actors.
Whether you like the film probably depends on whether you can treat it all as seriously as Pinter and Branagh. If you can't, this short, brackish piece will not work at all, even if you don't regard it as a piece of piss.
Latest News for Sleuth
March 10, 2008:
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The critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men comes to DVD this week, accompanied by a litany of fellow Fresh films (Lake of Fire, Summer Palace, Dan in Real... More...
November 23, 2007:
Kenneth Branagh on Sleuth: The RT Interview
The Shakespearian thesp tells us about re-adapting the classic play, originally made into a 1972 film with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. More...
October 11, 2007:
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This week at the movies we got lawyer types (Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton), dueling brothers (We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark... More...
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