Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10031 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-04-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.co.uk

Thirty-five years after Michael Caine played the role of crass boy-toy Milo Tindle in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s screen adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s hit play Sleuth, the actor takes over his 1972 co-star Laurence Olivier’s role of rich cuckold Andrew Wyke in Kenneth Branagh’s updated remake of the same story. Where Olivier brought a seething, upper-class disgust to mystery-novelist Wyke’s attitude toward Tindle - who is having an affair with the former’s wife and has come to the writer’s mansion to request that Wyke divorce her - Caine basks in the comic absurdity of a superficial man like Tindle (Jude Law) led by the nose into one or another illusion of happiness. The new film’s script by Harold Pinter has the arid air of expectation familiar to his work, the weight of things not said whenever someone speaks. That’s a considerable weight indeed, in Sleuth’s story of a psychological contest between two very different men who despise one another beneath outward civility. The story finds Tindle arriving at Wyke’s home. Following various small humiliations, he is invited by the older man to steal his wife’s jewels in a scheme that benefits everyone. There’s more than meets the eye to Wyke’s proposal, however, leading to unexpected developments and surprises in the film’s second half. Branagh’s direction is suitably cool and sleek in the beginning, when the characters’ emotions are still in check and the oddness of Wyke’s gadget-filled world is still entertaining to behold. (The film’s set design is one of its strongest elements.) But once voices rise and threats appear and the like, Branagh can’t seem to penetrate the surface of things. Unlike Mankiewicz’s take, the new version is caught up in the insularity of the characters’ tit-for-tat gamesmanship, lacking the intriguing, class-warfare subtext of the earlier work. A gay angle thrown into the last half-hour sits uncomfortably and irrelevantly with the rest of the material. The best thing about this Sleuth are the performances of Law and Caine, who could have been even better with a great script. --Tom Keogh

Synopsis
This savvy remake promises just as many twists and pitch-perfect performances as the 1972 film. Since the original SLEUTH still shocks, some might question director Kenneth Branagh's desire to remake the classic, but Michael Caine doesn't reprise his role from the first film. Instead, he stars as the betrayed husband (first played by Lawrence Olivier), while Jude Law plays Caine's original role of the rogue who stole his wife away. Nobel-Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter provides the crackling dialogue this time around.

Customer Reviews

6-0, 6-0, 6-0 to Caine
The first time I watched this, I'm not embarrassed to say, I just didn't get it at all. Being a huge fan of the Anthony Shaffer/Joseph L. Mankiewicz version, all I noticed -- through my tears, and between sighs -- were Harold Pinter's drastic alterations and the frosty overall tone. "Surely there's enough misery in the world," I told my cat, "without necessitating the surgical removal of every ounce of pleasure from two hours of delightfully witty entertainment." The cat concurred: "CCTV and homoerotic overtones are no substitute for good, old-fashioned belly laughs. Meow!"

It was only when I watched it a second time that I realised there are more good things than bad on offer, and I began to appreciate Pinter's novel tinkering with the character relationships. For instance, Andrew Wyke's (Michael Caine's) adulterous spouse is now an old man's trophy wife, rather than a toy boy's meal ticket. More interesting still, Pinter turns the love-triangle completely on its head, leaving the woman out in the cold, for a time at least.

The use of CCTV to internalise the outside world is ingenious, but it creates a glaring problem that the script fails to address: prospective burglar Milo Tindle (Jude Law) doesn't think to ask Wyke about the ubiquitous cameras, and strangely but conveniently, Detective Inspector Black never asks to see any surveillance footage of Tindle's visit. The 1972 "Sleuth" was a fascinating summit meeting of two very different acting schools; the 2007 version is more David versus Goliath than a clash of titans, and Jude Law definitely forgot to bring his slingshot. Seemingly aware that he is being acted off the screen, Law overplays to the hilt. Caine, however, is brilliant.

The first 40 minutes are great!
I recently went to see Sleuth at the cinema, didn't really know what to expect. I haven't seen the original either but heres my take. Hope this helps if you're considering buying the DVD:

I think the first 40 minutes are brilliant, Michael Caine and Jude Law are suberb. They share a great chemistry and really enjoy the roles. Other highlights are the tension building score, Harold Pinter's bruising, although humourous script (some great black laughs), Kenneth Branagh's assured direction, great angle shots and the heavy interior visuals of Caine's house.

The first half of this film is probably the most fun I've had in a cinema this year and is the very reason for me giving it four stars. A stumble in the last half hour or so can (just) be forgiven.

In the final third, Pinter just fails to dig out anything worth doing, mainly because theres only so far you can stretch an idea with one setting and only two main actors.

About the performances, Caine is flawless throughout and like I said, Law is also brilliant for an hour or so but slowly goes downhill until the end. The third act just doesn't give him enough to chew on and show what he can do.

Overall, I think Sleuth is a very good mystery movie with plenty of twists along the way to keep you guessing. The performances and screenplay are excellent and is definitely worth checking out on DVD if you missed it at the cinema.

acting lessons on screen
I recommend this movie for both actors.Extraordinary performances.
The second one is a different movie from the first and as usual with remakes comparison comes too easily to the mind.I saw the original a few hours ago to remember it (alas in the french version) and must say I like both movies for different reasons.
The directing may be more theatrical in the second (due to Branagh's taste for drama and to the awesome setting) but gives us the opportunity to see Law in his "theatrical" know how-especially for us foreigners deprived of his performances on stage.This guy is amazing (amazingly different in each part even in his physical appearance).I got back to drama school and amateur acting (ages after I started) after seeing him in the Holiday (turning a shallow part into a witty, touching and clever Graham).Alfie was brillantly redone and Sleuth is as well.I must say I always liked Michael Caine too.
I think one should try to forget the originals when seeing remakes.After all many different sculptors or painters worked on the same themes without anyone objecting.Why is it not the same with movies?Why deny one's delight?
By the way I ordered Hamlet tickets for 2009.