European Films

Michael Caine and Jude Law get into the verbal (and at times physical) equivalent of an all-or-nothing jousting match in Kenneth Branagh’s Sleuth, based on the play by Anthony Shaffer and also made into a film by Joseph L. Mankiewicz with Caine in 1972. This new version, adapted by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter, sees Caine in the role originated by Laurence Olivier and Law in the role that was Caine’s and is a delicious little devil of a movie in its own right. Like the original, the acting and dialogues are what make Sleuth such a treat, with Pinter's new spin now providing several cherries on top. Arthouse play with cross-over potential is likely, especially in UK-friendly territories.

 

Although a work of the late playwright Anthony Shaffer may seem like an unlikely source for Branagh after his adaptations of Shakespeare and Mozart, the 1970 play as reworked by Pinter is a perfect fit for the actor-turned-director and the two actors that make up the entire casting list of Sleuth. Casting Caine and Law -- the latter already took on a role originated by Caine in the recent remake of Alfie -- in this film offers an ample reminders why the duo are considered among the world’s best actors.

 

Branagh indulges a few times in unusually long and silent close-ups of Caine, but the actor is more than up to the task. If anything, they not only show off Caine’s magnetic presence at the prim age of 74 but also underline Branagh’s skill as a director, since these intense moments not only offer a glimpse of Caine’s character but also give the audience some much-needed breathing space in what is otherwise a strictly edge-of-the-seat affair, though mainly one of the verbal variety.

 

The basic story has remained unchanged: successful crime novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) invites Milo Tindle (Law), the new lover of Wyke’s wife, to his estate (ancient on the outside, hyper-modern on the inside) to discuss a possible divorce. His demands are rather unusual, which leads to a verbal cat-and-mouse game that goes in all sorts of unexpected directions and is packed with witty one-liners and cattish replies that only ever quite seem so sincerely mean and witty when pronounced with a British accent.

 

Though Sleuth deliberately retains the stagey feel of both the earlier film and the original play (no one could actually live in such a house), production design and camerawork are not reduced to bare essentials. Editing by Neil Farrow is as crisp as the dialogue, with the film coming in at over half an hour less than the 1972 version.