VENICE, Italy (Hollywood Reporter) -
Kenneth Branagh's new
version of Anthony Shaffer's crime caper "Sleuth" looks
smashing, and it features several great new lines by
screenwriter
Harold Pinter.
But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude
Law, it loses its grip in the third act and lets the air out of
what might have been a memorable film.
The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production, in
which he co-starred, but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and
Law, who already has stepped into Caine's shoes in "Alfie,"
doing Caine's part, will no doubt intrigue audiences. The big
names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but
the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge box office.
The Joseph L. Mankiewicz original was a theatrical romp
about 50 minutes longer than the new version, and Olivier,
having mocked Anthony Quayle for stooping to it onstage, hammed
it up mercilessly.
Pinter's screenplay pares the plot to the bone: Two men
argue and subject each other to humiliating gameplaying over
the love of a woman. Out-of-work actor and part-time chauffeur
Milo Tindle (Law) shows up at the impressive country mansion of
wealthy best-selling novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) to demand
that he grant his wife a divorce.
Pinter sets the rules at the front door, showing that this
is an all-male affair with the two men comparing the size of
their . . . cars. Wyke never misses a chance to observe that
Tindle is what the English call an oik, an ignorant young man
of little worth, mocking everything about him including his
name, parentage, accent, job, appearance -- you name it. The
younger man grins and explains what he and Wyke's missus like
to do with each other.
Soon the author has an offer to make: He will let Tindle
keep his wife if he will do him the favor of breaking into
Wyke's highly stylized home and stealing some gems worth close
to a million pounds. He says he doesn't want his wife back but
wishes to provide for her and needs the insurance money. Of
course, there's a catch, and this is merely the opening serve
in what will become a three-set match.
The setting is Wyke's opulent home filled with modern art
and all kinds of doors, windows, mirrors, skylights, ladders,
stage lights and even an elevator, that operate by remote
control. He also has an elaborate security setup, with cameras
numbering up to the 800s.
Tim Harvey's production design captures the mood of the
piece brilliantly, and Branagh and cinematographer Haris
Zambarloukos make the most of it. Composer Patrick Doyle's
nimble score adds greatly to the film's enjoyment.
Pinter produces some cracking lines of dialogue that Caine
and Jude relish to the full. He even has Law ask: What's it all
about? The two actors deliver movie-star performances of the
highest level, and their gamesmanship is hugely entertaining.
Until, that is, the third set, when a grimmer mood takes over
along with considerable homoerotic banter that seems to have
little grounding and lacks wit.
"Sleuth" is the kind of film that should leave audiences
with a wicked smiling shiver, but alas, that's not the case.
Cast:
Milo Tindle: Jude Law
Andrew Wyke: Michael Caine
Director: Kenneth Branagh; Screenwriter: Harold Pinter;
Based on the play by: Anthony Shaffer; Producers: Kenneth
Branagh, Simon Halfon, Jude Law, Simon Moseley, Marion
Pilowsky, Tom Sternberg; Director of photography: Haris
Zambarloukos; Production designer: Tim Harvey; Music: Patrick
Doyle; Co-producer: Ben Jackson; Costume designer: Alexandra
Byrne; Editor: Neil Farrell.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
