The back-and-forth goes on and on, increasingly impenetrable. Talk. Poke. Provoke. Repeat.
Comment
11/09/07
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
Constantly upstaging the rest of the cast, and reminding us over and over that we are watching a stogy, old fashioned stage play, Branagh's loopy lens is indeed the best part of Sleuth. Everything else is just plain pointless.
11/09/07
Succeeds only as another example of why Law should never star in a remake of a Caine movie again.
11/08/07
Alas, it just doesn't work. It could have, but it doesn't.
11/07/07
This film wants only to entertain, and other talents have gathered with Pinter to help.
11/07/07
A film that gives a twist to the old chestnut, but one that shatters what was best about it in the first place.
11/06/07
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
This was never going to be a masterpiece, but it didn't have to be nearly so frustrating.
11/02/07
While [writer] Pinter contributes some venom-spitting new dialogue, he also deviates wildly from the original story in the third act -- which would be fine, if the deviations weren't less compelling and more abrupt than Shaffer's original ideas.
11/02/07
It sounds so promising. It plays so disappointing.
11/02/07
We're left with two suitably hammy performances by Caine and Law, who do not forget they are actors playing actors, and a production design that must have kept the lighting people doing some ingenious plotting of their own.
11/02/07
Just terrible.
11/02/07
There'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
This would have been a memorable night at the theater. Too bad they filmed it.
11/01/07
Caine and Law are terrific together, verbally circling each other like panthers ready to pounce.
10/27/07
Branagh's Sleuth delivers a preening surface that's glossy and coldly attractive but we don't care a whit about the characters or what happens to them.
10/26/07
Closed-circuit cameras and electronic gadgets are so much in abundance, bathed in the coldest of blue lights, it's as if Branagh chose to film his Sleuth in a Best Buy warehouse.
10/26/07
Those who say they wouldn't mind watching Michael Caine and Jude Law recite the phone book may well have their patience tested by Sleuth.
10/26/07
This might have been OK for cable, but as a night out at the movies, it feels like a bit of a cheat.
10/26/07
Although the first half is much better than the second, Sleuth is intense, wordy, wordly and thought-provoking overall. It may not appeal to adolescent boys. Imagine that.
10/26/07
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November 23, 2007:
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The Shakespearian thesp tells us about re-adapting the classic play, originally made into a 1972 film with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. More...
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