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Sleuth

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Sleuth (2007)

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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] Strong coarse language, Infrequent aggressive coarse language, Adult themes

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... 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 Andrew Wyke, a droll old writer whose wife is having an affair with the young, ambitious Milo Tindle, played by Caine. Thirty-five years later, Caine is starring as Wyke in an updated version of SLEUTH, completely rewritten by Nobel Prizewinner Harold Pinter and directed by multiple Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh. Jude Law, who played the Michael Caine role in the 2004 remake of ALFIE, now takes over as Tindle, a hairdresser-actor who has shown up at Wyke's estate to demand that Wyke divorce his wife so Tindle can marry her. But the extremely successful and wealthy Wyke is not about to give up his wife without a very determined and well-calculated battle of wits. Wyke lives by himself in a home that features dozens of electronic gadgets and odd contraptions, forcing Tindle to always be on the lookout for something strange to happen. The cat-and-mouse game continues as Tindle and Wyke play mind games with each other in a thrilling contest of one-upsmanship that soon involves a gun. Caine is marvelous as Wyke, strutting through his home with the absolute confidence that he will get the best of Tindle, but Law, who is also one of the film's producers, holds up his end of the drama, giving as good as he gets. Branagh keeps a steady hand as director, not allowing the camera to get in the way of the two dueling characters, but Tim Harvey's unusual production design nearly steals the show. [More]

Starring: Michael Caine, Jude Law

Starring: Michael Caine, Jude Law

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter
Producer: Jude Law, Simon Halfon, Tom Sternberg, Marion Pilowksy, Kenneth Branagh, Simon Moseley
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Reviews for Sleuth

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Fans of the original should stay away.

Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | comment Comment
03/19/08
David Stratton
David Stratton
At the Movies (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
03/07/08
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Despite 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

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/01/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
01/15/08
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It requires a light touch; I admire Branagh a great deal, but not for his light touch.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
08/14/09
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Idly plotted then tempered by a blunt ending. All of a sudden the viewer is left pondering 'eh?' as Pinter apparently run out of room on his pad.

Full Review Source: Clothes on Film | comment Comment
06/26/09
Chris Laverty
Chris Laverty
Clothes on Film
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Mark Bazer
Mark Bazer
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Pinter's pauses, and the dour air of so much of the interplay, just don't fit on a story that's this slight.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC

Once the homosexual subtext is brought to the surface, everything seems to be a joke. Are they gay, kidding, or just considering?

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
04/10/08
Brian Holcomb
Brian Holcomb
PopMatters

The script includes a verbal motif that reminds us of what binds the film's four central talents together: 'I want to show you something.' [Blu-Ray review]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
03/10/08
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

What this Sleuth lacks in enthusiasm it makes up in character-driven menace.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
03/04/08
David Cornelius
David Cornelius
DVDTalk.com

Goofy 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

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
02/22/08
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly

Director Kenneth Branagh has mercifully pared the action down to 88 minutes (the first movie dragged on for 138), but the final act... still seems to go on forever.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
12/14/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

What Pinter and Branagh present is a much more wicked, cold, disturbing film that is even more confined than the original.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
12/12/07
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Seems to me that the Kenneth Branagh-Harold Pinter Sleuth is a pretty good movie. It just isn't a very good Sleuth, exactly.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
12/07/07
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

By the time the film ends on a flat note, it is long past the point of failing to effectively showcase a meeting of minds between two great actors.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas CityLife | comment Comment
12/01/07
Matt Kelemen
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
12/01/07
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
11/23/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London
 
 
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