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Michael Caine, Jude Law, Harold Pinter

The Anthony Shaffer play originally brought to the screen in 1972 gets the remake treatment in this updating that finds Michael Caine stepping into the role of the brilliant thriller writer portrayed ... read more read more...by Laurence Olivier in the original, and Jude Law following in Caine's footsteps as the young hairdresser who steals the literary giant's wife, only to find himself subsequently swallowed up in an elaborate revenge scheme. Kenneth Branagh directs a script adapted from Shaffer's original play by screenwriter Harold Pinter. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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53% liked it

20,246 ratings

Critics

36% liked it

118 critics

R, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Release Date: October 12, 2007

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DVD Release Date: March 11, 2008

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Stats: 2,399 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,399)

  • allan913
    September 5, 2011
    allan913
    A riveting and dazzling film. A masterful, intelligent and tremendously tense cat and mouse thriller. It`s a hypnotic, stylish and superbly acted masterpiece. An intense, frequently witty and shattering screenplay by Harold Pinter. Director, Kenneth Branagh creates a solid and el... read moreectrifying masterwork. It keeps you on the edge of your seat no problem all the way to the end. Michael Caine and Jude Law are an outstanding tour de force. They give amazing performances, showing different and great styles of their acting and in their character development. Some truly brilliant and unforgettable acting from Law and Caine. Wonderful work from two great actors of two different generations and a great writer and director. It`s a knockout thats just as frightening as it is entertaining.
  • 76Majikat
    August 5, 2011
    76Majikat
    Here's a film to divide audiences - Michael Caine and Jude Law in a dialogue fuelled film Directed by Keneth Branagh.

    A mind game about control, one upmanship, love, money and lonliness. A low budget flick that holds your attention throughout and you will certainly have a love ... read moreit or hate it feeling come the end.
  • SirPant
    November 22, 2010
    SirPant
    I've not seen the original, so I watched the 2007 version of Sleuth with clear judgement and an open mind. First off, Pinter's script is brilliant, he's a love or hate writer and I'm very much in the love camp. Caine is good in his role, I can't wait to see how he compares to Oli... read morevier's portrayal of Andrew Wyke though. Jude Law is good in places but I found his performance to be up and down, the whole detective chapter was a little iffy but he can't be held solely responsible for that. Branagh's direction is also a little hit and miss but generally it's hit. I hated the set though (apart from the Anthony Gormley daaaarling) I'm looking forward to catching up with the original now, the 2007 version is ok but I'm expecting better.
  • hunterjt13
    November 2, 2010
    hunterjt13
    I came into this movie quite skeptical. After all, the original film was quite good, but its goodness was based on its surprises. Ergo, I reasoned, the same story would fail to surprise me and consequently fail to be good. But that reasoning underestimates the abilities of Har... read moreold Pinter, he of the pregnant pause, one of the best playwrights of the twentieth century. Pinter re-worked the script and made it his own, and the new Sleuth surpasses the old. Wyke goes from a rather dangerous eccentric to a sadistic psychopath, and Tindle goes from a handsome though quick-witted playboy to a bisexual male whore. And these interesting changes say nothing about the moments in between, the actors who fill the silence with sharp characterizations or mesmerizing stillness.
    The film does suffer from an almost-too-busy set design, and at the end of the day, while this may seem like a contradiction, there truly is only so much even a writer as skilled as Pinter can do with this material.
    Overall, this is worth an hour and a half of your time, especially if you saw the original.
  • RossCollinsUK
    August 30, 2010
    RossCollinsUK
    Two actors, one set; a classic stage production movie. However, for such a movie to work it needs top quality acting and a witty, sharp dialogue. This has neither. I've not seen a film with so many quotes that are memorable for being so bad in a long time.
  • ythelastman89
    January 7, 2010
    ythelastman89
    I actually found this to be a great movie even though it was unable to have the surprises of the original. The acting is what really made this a notch above Kenneth Brannagh's other play adaptions. The production value was also great from what I've come to expect from his work. J... read moreude Law and Michael Caine were perfect together and you couldn't ask for better tension.
  • sanjurosamurai
    December 1, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    this is a film that cant be described, it has to be seen. michael caine's performance is great as usual. the cinematography is very unusual but i absolutely loved it, and the diologue was very clever, which it had to be because the film is driven by its diologue. the end of th... read moree film gets a little silly and uncomfortable, but it is really interesting. caine and jude law are the only characters in the film and the entire film takes place in a single house, but the film still carries well at most points. not great, but different enough that any film buff should take a chance on it.
  • pier007
    June 19, 2009
    pier007
    Lately, Jude Law has had the nasty habit of remaking wonderful films starring the legendary Michael Caine (the americanised version of "Alfie" was first) Well, this is as unnecessary and terribly dull as his previous failed emulation.
    It not only boasts of its famous costars (ha... read moreving the original Milo Tindle yes, Michael Caine, but this time he's the one filling Laurence Olivier's shoes as the eloquent and misanthropic novelist Andrew Wyke) but also a screenplay by Harold Pinter and (a flat) direction by Kenneth Branagh.
    Absolutely zero charm and wit compared to the original.
  • sononothing
    December 7, 2008
    sononothing
    Jude Law continues his Michael Caine re-make tour (the Jaws: The Revenge joke still stands) in this story about a hairdresser/actor (Law) who is called to the house of a wealthy man (Michael Caine) to discuss the loss of his wife to this other man. What at first seems like a simp... read morele talk about the transition of loving turns into an intense psychological chess game between the two men.

    Sleuth is a film that is full of dead ends. You think you're going one way but are actually just getting stopped and turned around to start over again. Even in the end you're waiting for that row of bushes to turn you on your way. Very few films have achieved confinement (Hitchcock was the master of it), but Sleuth makes this big, cold house feel like a techno-tomb that these to men will compete to the death in.

    I really didn't care for Jude Law in this film. His acting was way over the top and befitted a 1930's pirate serial. Maybe if he did something original... Michael Caine is brilliant as usual and really pulls this film out of the remake muck that it is. He's brilliant in his role.

    A word of warning: this is a remake and my appetite is we to see how that film ran with Caine in Law's role and Laurence Olivier in Caine's role. This sounds like a superior film. This version is just Caine giving Law acting lessons.
  • paulsandberg
    November 17, 2008
    paulsandberg
    such a high pedigree, and while there are certainly moments here, the 3rd act is a mish-mashed disaster; of course most viewers have probably already given up caring by this point.

    Such an odd set doesn't help matters; in fact it almost becomes the star of the movie, a universe... read more in which the players simply revolve around and interact within.

    Branagh as director uses all the techno gadgets to reasonably good effect, shooting scenes as seen from within the security system; but the addition of all the surveilance cameras ends up begging the question - with the entire affair being taped (even with judicious editing by Caine), how can anyone possibly think that either charactor was going to get away with their deadly cat and mouse game? I guess that's what happens when you try to update a classic - you end up with unexplained plot points that weren't even in the original.

    I also must add that while perhaps the gay angle was a shocker in the 70's (though I don't remember it as such), in today's jaded world it doesn't register more than a tired yawn; an ambiguity to be glossed over as just another twist in the game the two protagonists are playing.

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Critic Reviews

J. R. Jones
December 14, 2007
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

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

Sean Means
November 16, 2007
Sean Means, Film.com

Director Kenneth Branagh clearly is having fun navigating Tim Harvey's slick set design, but eventually the characters' deadly competitiveness becomes tedious.

Roger Moore
November 9, 2007
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

It doesnt work, and the reasons why are no mystery, no mystery at all. Full Review

Stanley Kauffmann
November 7, 2007
Stanley Kauffmann, New Republic

This film wants only to entertain, and other talents have gathered with Pinter to help. Full Review

Tom Long
November 2, 2007
Tom Long, Detroit News

It sounds so promising. It plays so disappointing. Full Review

Terry Lawson
November 2, 2007
Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

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... Full Review

Steven Rea
November 2, 2007
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Just terrible. Full Review

Colin Covert
November 1, 2007
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

This would have been a memorable night at the theater. Too bad they filmed it. Full Review

Peter Howell
October 26, 2007
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

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. Full Review

Randy Cordova
October 25, 2007
Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

A grand exercise in watching two marvelous actors rip into some crackling dialogue. It's the thespian equivalent of jousting, and it's fascinating to watch. Full Review

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