Fans of the original should stay away.
Comment
03/19/08
Sleuth (2007)
36
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
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
Australian Rating: M [See Full Rating]
Runtime: 86 mins
Genre: Thriller, Murder, Theatrical Release, Remake
Australian Theatrical Release:
Mar 6, 2008 Wide
US 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... [More]
Reviews for Sleuth
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticDespite 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
03/01/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
03/07/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
01/15/08
Top CriticA wickedly entertaining four-man tour de force, Sleuth transforms Anthony Shaffer's Tony-winning, rather than rehashing the fine 1972 movie version.
09/06/07
Top CriticGoofy 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
02/22/08
Caine and Law rustle up a spicy chemistry which sustains a sizzle for an hour or so. But the second half panders to Pinter’s self-indulgence, unravelling Branagh’s high-tensile head-fuck as a hollow skirmish.
11/23/07
A delicious little devil of a movie in its own right.
08/30/07
Sleuth remains an effective display of acting, with enough twists and turns to satisfy the newcomers and avoid insulting the faithful.
10/26/07
One of the more entertaining films of the season, a tight, efficient thriller with two actors, a director, and a writer firing on all creative cylinders
10/12/07
Language this lethal has all but disappeared from the movies, and it's an unmitigated pleasure to observe Caine and Law attack it with such ferocity. Sleuth is nasty fun.
10/12/07
Top CriticThere's lots to like in Sleuth's battle of wits, which occurs when an actor (Jude Law) having an affair with a married woman visits her husband, a writer (Michael Caine), and asks him to grant her a divorce.
11/01/07
Caine and Law are in fine form bantering cleverly in this entertaining cat-and-mouse game, thanks to the inspired dialogue of Harold Pinter.
10/11/07
Top CriticMichael Caine and Jude Law give inspired performances that make the most of Pinter's brilliant and pithy dialogue.
10/04/07
What this Sleuth lacks in enthusiasm it makes up in character-driven menace.
03/04/08
I think the movie works best if you know the original and have a taste for goofy revisionism -- say, Hamlet as a giant Hawaiian luau with the final duel on surfboards, or Paul Anka doing a finger-snapping “Smells Like Teen Spirit."
10/08/07
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.
11/23/07
Entertains more than it should, a sure sign that the real culprit is the fine talent assembled.
10/12/07
When Sylvester Stallone’s Get Carter is no longer the worst remake of a Michael Caine movie, you have to ask yourself: what’s it all about?
11/23/07
Devotees of the original may be appalled to see it changed in any way, but on its own terms it's pretty entertaining.
11/04/07
Latest News for Sleuth
March 10, 2008:
RT on DVD: Call It, Friend-O -- No Country For Old Men Hits DVD
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:
Critical Consensus: No Debatin' Clayton, Night Almost Owns, Elizabeth Not Golden
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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