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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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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
splat
2.5/5

David Stratton

Fans of the original should stay away.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 19 2008 10:53 PM

At the Movies (Australia)

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 07 2008 03:15 AM

Sydney Morning Herald

splat

Urban Cinefile Critics

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: | comment Comment | Mar., 01 2008 10:57 PM

Urban Cinefile

N/R

Garth Franklin

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 15 2008 03:15 AM

Dark Horizons

splat
1/4

Walter Chaw

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 14 2009 02:39 PM

Film Freak Central

splat
2/5

Chris Laverty

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: | comment Comment | Jun., 26 2009 04:31 AM

Clothes on Film

N/R

Mark Bazer

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 23 2009 03:16 AM

Boston Phoenix

N/R

Bob Mondello

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 18 2008 09:00 AM

NPR.org

tomato
3/5

Jim Lane

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:17 AM

Sacramento News & Review

splat
2/5

Alonso Duralde

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: | comment Comment | May., 01 2008 04:36 PM

MSNBC

splat

Brian Holcomb

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: | comment Comment | Apr., 10 2008 08:55 AM

PopMatters

tomato
3/4

Peter Canavese

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: | comment Comment | Mar., 10 2008 06:41 PM

Groucho Reviews

tomato
3/5

David Cornelius

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 04 2008 01:42 PM

DVDTalk.com

tomato
B+

Amy Nicholson

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: | comment Comment | Feb., 22 2008 12:02 AM

I.E. Weekly

splat

J. R. Jones

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: | comment Comment | Dec., 14 2007 05:53 PM

Chicago Reader

tomato
4/5

Ken Hanke

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

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 12 2007 07:28 AM

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

tomato
3/4

Lawrence Toppman

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: | comment Comment | Dec., 07 2007 12:31 PM

Charlotte Observer

splat

Matt Kelemen

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: | comment Comment | Dec., 01 2007 11:33 PM

Las Vegas CityLife

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 01 2007 05:04 AM

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

tomato
3/5

Derek Malcolm

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: | comment Comment | Nov., 23 2007 09:47 AM

This is London

 
 
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