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| Michael Caine and Jude Law |
SLEUTH (2007). Director: Kenneth Branagh.
Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine of
Jack the Ripper), a best-selling mystery author, greets an unusual guest at his front door: Milo Tindle (Jude Law of
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), who happens to be his wife's lover. Milo hopes that Andrew will grant his wife a divorce and make things easier for everyone, but Andrew has a different plan. He wants Milo to steal his wife's jewels, get the cash so he can finance his girlfriend's expensive tastes, while Andrew will win a big cash pay-out from the insurance company. Milo goes along with this but could discover that Andrew's plans for him are much more sinister than he imagines. Then Inspector Doppler rings the doorbell ...
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| Jude Law, not Helmut Berger |
This remake of the 1972
Sleuth casts Michael Caine in the role originally played by Lawrence Olivier. While Caine can't quite compare to Olivier, he is still excellent, as is Law as Milo, who in this version is an actor (which makes more sense than his being a hairdresser as in the original). This version has a screenplay by Harold Pinter, who discards Andrew's obsession with games and curious memorabilia, and makes significant changes to the third act. Pinter adds a psychosexual element, a homoerotic tension between the two men, that may be completely faked by both parties or have some underlying truth to it. (The role of Milo would have been perfect for a young Helmut Berger.) In the long run, it doesn't matter, as this whole business just comes off as contrived, phony and unconvincing. As in the first version, the wife never appears, although she does arrive at the door, unseen, in the remake. Considering Pinter's touches -- that is the supposed, somewhat silly, bisexual twists in this -- you half expect RuPaul to walk through the front door (wouldn't
that have been a trip!) Yes, the remake might as well have gone all the way and made the unseen lover a
man.
Sleuth should best be viewed as a splendid acting exercise for two very talented thespians. Jude Law also reprised a role originally played by Caine when he starred in the superior remake of
Alfie.
Verdict: Very well-acted, edgier than the original and less comical, but still not as good. **1/2.
Have not yet seen this, but willing to give it a try, if I lower the expectations. I like the cast, and will be interested to see how Caine is in the Olivier role.
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It's worth a look iff as you say, you go in with lower expectations.
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