Sleuth (2007)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The first must-see film of the year.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I understand why everybody speaks about how remake stayed in the shadow of the original, but I've first watched this one and I was impressed. Maybe because I love the movies with the talking and expressing feelings rather than some car chase action or romantic crap with silly humor. Two great actors, great movie and nothing else (M.Caine from original movie, but in different role now).After watching, I've enjoyed in original black-white movie even more.

I loved the original book and the 1972 movie so I was eagerly awaiting the new Sleuth to see what Branagh would bring to the screen. From the outset, the Set Design was a miss as I can't imagine a mystery writer living in a cold, stark concrete and steel mausoleum. Writers do research, they read books, lots of books, and not all are available via the internet, no matter what techies would have you think. Andrew Wyke would have a huge library available to himself within easy reach. The only books on that set were supposedly written by Wyke himself.The camera direction was not comfortable to watch as it was inferred we were watching things unfold through the security camera's. An interesting idea until some of camera's appeared to be tracking the subjects. Good trick, but only if the subjects are wearing tracking devises. They weren't. I have a hard time watching images that only show part of the subject as was the case at the start. It makes me pay attention to the camera and not the story. This is a trick of music video directors when they don't have much of a story to tell but still have to fill the time allotted. Branagh had a great story to tell, just not much of a script.Micheal Caine is a fine actor but when held up to Sir Laurence Olivier's Andrew Wyke, he is left lacking. Jude Law does a fine job with the character he was given but he still didn't outdo Caines original. The entire film was not long enough to give any good character development nor was there good use of the grounds as in the 72' version.If you have never seen the 1972 Sleuth, you may be excused for really enjoying this copy, but if you have seen the older one you will not be able to watch this without making comparisons.I highly recommend watching the 1972 Sleuth with Micheal Caine and Sir Lawrence Olivier to see what this movie should be.

So, we've seen the play, when does the movie start?Directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Michael Caine and Jude Law, from a play by Harold Pinter: sounds like a good formula, doesn't it? Unfortunately nobody told Messrs Caine, Law and Branagh that they weren't doing a play! The whole movie feels like a play, and has this emptiness and pretentiousness to go with it. The plot was OK, but not watertight. The suspense seemed lacking though. All the twists made you less surprised the next time something which should have been thrilling happened. Made the end an anti- climax.Watch the original 1972 version instead - it's brilliant and light years ahead of this one.

I haven't seen the original movie, but I thought this one was OK. Michael Caine stars as Andrew Wyke, a famous author who lives alone in a high-tech mansion after his wife Maggie left him for younger man Milo Tindle (Jude Law). Tindle wants Wyke to divorce his wife; however, Wyke seems far more interested in playing mind games with him and lures him into a series of actions he planned to seek revenge.With only a cast of two (not including the cameos of actors who appeared on the TV), this is an interesting movie with plenty of twists and turns and surprises, sending your mind in a frenzy to comprehend the mystery. Both Caine and Law did a pretty good job in their performances, displaying sardonic and witty remarks against each other and emotionally showing the manipulation, scorn and mind-reading of their respected characters.The movie starts off a little slow (with quite a lot of fillers), but then picks up when the suspense of pitting the characters against each other and the little bits of action ensue. An interesting little detective movie overall.Grade B-