This review was written for the festival screening of "Sleuth".Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- Kenneth Branagh's new version of the crime caper "Sleuth" looks smashing and it features several great lines by screenwriter Harold Pinter. But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude Law, it loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film.
The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production in which he costarred but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law, who has already stepped into Caine's shoes in "Alfie", doing Caine's part will no doubt intrigue audiences. The quartet of big names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge boxoffice.
The Joseph L. Manciewicz original was a theatrical romp some 50 minutes longer than the new version and Olivier, having mocked Anthony Quayle for stooping to it onstage, hammed it up mercilessly.
Pinter's screenplay pares the plot to the bone: two men argue and subject each other to humiliating game-playing over the love of a woman. Out-of-work actor and part-time chauffeur Milo Tindle (Law) shows up at the impressive country mansion of wealthy bestselling novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) to demand that he grant his wife a divorce.
Pinter sets the rules at the front door showing that this is an all-male affair with the two men comparing the size of their ... cars. Wyke never misses a chance to observe that Tindle is what the English call an oik, an ignorant young man of little worth, mocking everything about him including his name, parentage, accent, job, appearance, you name it. The younger man grins and explains what he and Wyke's missus like to do with each other.
Soon the author has an offer to make. He will let Tindle keep his wife if he will do him the favor of breaking into his highly stylized home and stealing some gems worth close to a million pounds. He says he doesn't want his wife back and but wishes to provide for her and needs the insurance money. Of course, there's a catch and this is merely the opening serve in what will become a three-set match.
The setting is Wyke's opulent home filled with modern art and all kinds of doors, windows, mirrors, sky-lights, ladders, stage lights, and even an elevator, that operate by remote control. He also has an elaborate security set-up with cameras that number up to the 800s.
Tim Harvey's production design captures the mood of the piece brilliantly and Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos make the most of it. Composer Patrick Doyle's nimble score adds greatly to the film's enjoyment.
Pinter produces some cracking lines of dialogue that Caine and Jude relish to the full. He even has Law ask: What's it all about? The two actors deliver movie star performances of the highest level and their gamesmanship is hugely entertaining. Until, that is, the third set when a grimmer mood takes over along with considerable homoerotic banter that seems to have little grounding and lacks wit. "Sleuth" is the kind of film that should leave audiences with a wicked smiling shiver, but that's not the case here.
SLEUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
Produced by Timnick Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Media Rights Capital, Riff Raff Film Prods.
Credits:
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter, from the play by Anthony Shaffer
Producers: Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Jude Law, Simon Moseley, Marion Pilowsky, Tom Sternberg
Director of photography: Haris Zambarloukos
Production designer: Tim Harvey
Music: Patrick Doyle
Co-producer: Ben Jackson
Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne
Editor: Neil Farrell
Cast:
Milo Tindle: Jude Law
Andrew Wyke: Michael Caine
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
VENICE, Italy -- Kenneth Branagh's new version of the crime caper "Sleuth" looks smashing and it features several great lines by screenwriter Harold Pinter. But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude Law, it loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film.
The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production in which he costarred but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law, who has already stepped into Caine's shoes in "Alfie", doing Caine's part will no doubt intrigue audiences. The quartet of big names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge boxoffice.
The Joseph L. Manciewicz original was a theatrical romp some 50 minutes longer than the new version and Olivier, having mocked Anthony Quayle for stooping to it onstage, hammed it up mercilessly.
Pinter's screenplay pares the plot to the bone: two men argue and subject each other to humiliating game-playing over the love of a woman. Out-of-work actor and part-time chauffeur Milo Tindle (Law) shows up at the impressive country mansion of wealthy bestselling novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) to demand that he grant his wife a divorce.
Pinter sets the rules at the front door showing that this is an all-male affair with the two men comparing the size of their ... cars. Wyke never misses a chance to observe that Tindle is what the English call an oik, an ignorant young man of little worth, mocking everything about him including his name, parentage, accent, job, appearance, you name it. The younger man grins and explains what he and Wyke's missus like to do with each other.
Soon the author has an offer to make. He will let Tindle keep his wife if he will do him the favor of breaking into his highly stylized home and stealing some gems worth close to a million pounds. He says he doesn't want his wife back and but wishes to provide for her and needs the insurance money. Of course, there's a catch and this is merely the opening serve in what will become a three-set match.
The setting is Wyke's opulent home filled with modern art and all kinds of doors, windows, mirrors, sky-lights, ladders, stage lights, and even an elevator, that operate by remote control. He also has an elaborate security set-up with cameras that number up to the 800s.
Tim Harvey's production design captures the mood of the piece brilliantly and Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos make the most of it. Composer Patrick Doyle's nimble score adds greatly to the film's enjoyment.
Pinter produces some cracking lines of dialogue that Caine and Jude relish to the full. He even has Law ask: What's it all about? The two actors deliver movie star performances of the highest level and their gamesmanship is hugely entertaining. Until, that is, the third set when a grimmer mood takes over along with considerable homoerotic banter that seems to have little grounding and lacks wit. "Sleuth" is the kind of film that should leave audiences with a wicked smiling shiver, but that's not the case here.
SLEUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
Produced by Timnick Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Media Rights Capital, Riff Raff Film Prods.
Credits:
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter, from the play by Anthony Shaffer
Producers: Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Jude Law, Simon Moseley, Marion Pilowsky, Tom Sternberg
Director of photography: Haris Zambarloukos
Production designer: Tim Harvey
Music: Patrick Doyle
Co-producer: Ben Jackson
Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne
Editor: Neil Farrell
Cast:
Milo Tindle: Jude Law
Andrew Wyke: Michael Caine
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 8/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Venice International Film Festival
VENICE, Italy -- Kenneth Branagh's new version of the crime caper Sleuth looks smashing and it features several great lines by screenwriter Harold Pinter. But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude Law, it loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film.
The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production in which he costarred but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law, who has already stepped into Caine's shoes in Alfie, doing Caine's part will no doubt intrigue audiences. The quartet of big names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge boxoffice.
The Joseph L. Manciewicz original was a theatrical romp some 50 minutes longer than the new version and Olivier, having mocked Anthony Quayle for stooping to it onstage, hammed it up mercilessly.
Pinter's screenplay pares the plot to the bone: two men argue and subject each other to humiliating game-playing over the love of a woman. Out-of-work actor and part-time chauffeur Milo Tindle (Law) shows up at the impressive country mansion of wealthy bestselling novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) to demand that he grant his wife a divorce.
Pinter sets the rules at the front door showing that this is an all-male affair with the two men comparing the size of their ... cars. Wyke never misses a chance to observe that Tindle is what the English call an oik, an ignorant young man of little worth, mocking everything about him including his name, parentage, accent, job, appearance, you name it. The younger man grins and explains what he and Wyke's missus like to do with each other.
Soon the author has an offer to make. He will let Tindle keep his wife if he will do him the favor of breaking into his highly stylized home and stealing some gems worth close to a million pounds. He says he doesn't want his wife back and but wishes to provide for her and needs the insurance money. Of course, there's a catch and this is merely the opening serve in what will become a three-set match.
The setting is Wyke's opulent home filled with modern art and all kinds of doors, windows, mirrors, sky-lights, ladders, stage lights, and even an elevator, that operate by remote control. He also has an elaborate security set-up with cameras that number up to the 800s.
Tim Harvey's production design captures the mood of the piece brilliantly and Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos make the most of it. Composer Patrick Doyle's nimble score adds greatly to the film's enjoyment.
Pinter produces some cracking lines of dialogue that Caine and Jude relish to the full. He even has Law ask: What's it all about? The two actors deliver movie star performances of the highest level and their gamesmanship is hugely entertaining. Until, that is, the third set when a grimmer mood takes over along with considerable homoerotic banter that seems to have little grounding and lacks wit. Sleuth is the kind of film that should leave audiences with a wicked smiling shiver, but that's not the case here.
SLEUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
Produced by Timnick Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Media Rights Capital, Riff Raff Film Prods.
Credits:
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter, from the play by Anthony Shaffer
Producers: Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Jude Law, Simon Moseley, Marion Pilowsky, Tom Sternberg
Director of photography: Haris Zambarloukos
Production designer: Tim Harvey
Music: Patrick Doyle
Co-producer: Ben Jackson
Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne
Editor: Neil Farrell
Cast:
Milo Tindle: Jude Law
Andrew Wyke: Michael Caine
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
VENICE, Italy -- Kenneth Branagh's new version of the crime caper Sleuth looks smashing and it features several great lines by screenwriter Harold Pinter. But despite top-flight acting from Michael Caine and Jude Law, it loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film.
The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production in which he costarred but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law, who has already stepped into Caine's shoes in Alfie, doing Caine's part will no doubt intrigue audiences. The quartet of big names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge boxoffice.
The Joseph L. Manciewicz original was a theatrical romp some 50 minutes longer than the new version and Olivier, having mocked Anthony Quayle for stooping to it onstage, hammed it up mercilessly.
Pinter's screenplay pares the plot to the bone: two men argue and subject each other to humiliating game-playing over the love of a woman. Out-of-work actor and part-time chauffeur Milo Tindle (Law) shows up at the impressive country mansion of wealthy bestselling novelist Andrew Wyke (Caine) to demand that he grant his wife a divorce.
Pinter sets the rules at the front door showing that this is an all-male affair with the two men comparing the size of their ... cars. Wyke never misses a chance to observe that Tindle is what the English call an oik, an ignorant young man of little worth, mocking everything about him including his name, parentage, accent, job, appearance, you name it. The younger man grins and explains what he and Wyke's missus like to do with each other.
Soon the author has an offer to make. He will let Tindle keep his wife if he will do him the favor of breaking into his highly stylized home and stealing some gems worth close to a million pounds. He says he doesn't want his wife back and but wishes to provide for her and needs the insurance money. Of course, there's a catch and this is merely the opening serve in what will become a three-set match.
The setting is Wyke's opulent home filled with modern art and all kinds of doors, windows, mirrors, sky-lights, ladders, stage lights, and even an elevator, that operate by remote control. He also has an elaborate security set-up with cameras that number up to the 800s.
Tim Harvey's production design captures the mood of the piece brilliantly and Branagh and cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos make the most of it. Composer Patrick Doyle's nimble score adds greatly to the film's enjoyment.
Pinter produces some cracking lines of dialogue that Caine and Jude relish to the full. He even has Law ask: What's it all about? The two actors deliver movie star performances of the highest level and their gamesmanship is hugely entertaining. Until, that is, the third set when a grimmer mood takes over along with considerable homoerotic banter that seems to have little grounding and lacks wit. Sleuth is the kind of film that should leave audiences with a wicked smiling shiver, but that's not the case here.
SLEUTH
Sony Pictures Classics
Produced by Timnick Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Media Rights Capital, Riff Raff Film Prods.
Credits:
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Screenwriter: Harold Pinter, from the play by Anthony Shaffer
Producers: Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Jude Law, Simon Moseley, Marion Pilowsky, Tom Sternberg
Director of photography: Haris Zambarloukos
Production designer: Tim Harvey
Music: Patrick Doyle
Co-producer: Ben Jackson
Costume designer: Alexandra Byrne
Editor: Neil Farrell
Cast:
Milo Tindle: Jude Law
Andrew Wyke: Michael Caine
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 8/31/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Paramount Pictures International has picked up U.K., Australia, New Zealand and South African distribution rights to Kenneth Branagh's update of Sleuth, starring Jude Law and Michael Caine.
Based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony award-winning play -- which was made into a 1972 film starring Caine and Lawrence Olivier -- the updated version has been scripted by Harold Pinter. It is the Nobel Laureate's first screenplay in a decade.
Sleuth tells the story of an out-of-work actor who becomes embroiled in an affair with the wife of a wealthy writer, who in turn is having an affair with a much younger woman.
The film is produced by Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Simon Moseley and Marion Pilowsky.
"We are delighted to be distributing 'Sleuth' in the English-language markets," said Andrew Cripps, president of Paramount Pictures International.
Based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony award-winning play -- which was made into a 1972 film starring Caine and Lawrence Olivier -- the updated version has been scripted by Harold Pinter. It is the Nobel Laureate's first screenplay in a decade.
Sleuth tells the story of an out-of-work actor who becomes embroiled in an affair with the wife of a wealthy writer, who in turn is having an affair with a much younger woman.
The film is produced by Jude Law, Kenneth Branagh, Simon Halfon, Simon Moseley and Marion Pilowsky.
"We are delighted to be distributing 'Sleuth' in the English-language markets," said Andrew Cripps, president of Paramount Pictures International.
- 3/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- Quick Links Sleuth Sony Pictures Classics Sleuth (1972 version) Kenneth Branagh Michael Caine Jude LawProduction was stalled a couple of times, but now with a U.S distributor on board its full steam ahead for Kenneth Branagh’s contemporary take on the 1972 film. Sony Pictures Classics has boarded the production which starts later this month. This is an updated version of the award-winning play. A dramatic and thrilling study of sexual conflict, jealousy, power and manipulation handled with both lacerating wit and humor, Sleuth tells the story of a wealthy writer of detective stories (Caine) and an aspiring yet out-of-work actor (Law) who is having an affair with the writer's wife. The writer's exquisitely modernized Georgian manor, becomes the backdrop for a cat and mouse game that pits one creative mind against another. Caine would be playing the Laurence Olivier role and Law playing Caine's original role.What is of
- 1/5/2007
- IONCINEMA.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.