Sleuth

Starring: Michael Caine and Jude Law

Written by: Harold Pinter

Directed by: Kenneth Branagh

Rated: R

Two people in conversation rarely makes for a riveting film, but when executed properly, a dialogue-driven movie can be more compelling than many that are far more elaborately staged. Such is the case with the second film adaptation of Sleuth, adapted by Nobel-winning playwright Harold Pinter from the original script by Anthony Shaffer.


Directed by Kenneth Branagh (Much Ado About Nothing, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), Sleuth stars Jude Law (Alfie, I Heart Huckbees) as struggling young actor Milo Tindle, who visits the home of Andrew Wyke, a world-famous crime writer played by Michael Caine (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Cider House Rules). The whole film centers on Tindle and Wyke and their verbal showdown. Pinter’s script is a loose adaptation of Shaffer’s work and his trademark poetry – vague, conversational – suits the plot well. The characters’ identities emerge as the plot draws close around their conversation. It’s a breathtakingly clever verbal tango, and the film’s hour and a half swims by stylishly in the presence of these two talented actors and the fascinating characters they play.


Caine, who in just over fifty years has been in over a hundred films, starred as Milo Tindle opposite Laurence Olivier in the 1972 film adaptation of the play. It’s a sheer pleasure to see someone with such a profound understanding of his craft given so much space to sculpt a performance. The script’s ambiguity allows Caine the opportunity to remain elegantly mysterious while rendering an intricate, detail-oriented performance.


Jude Law, who also co-produced the film, has too rarely been challenged to more than surface-level performances, despite a steady stream of work and his pleat and charismatic style. His considerable talent gets put to good use here as Law responds to Pinter’s intricate sleight of hand with profoundly deft emotional precision.


Production designer Tim Harvey, who has worked with Kenneth Branagh before, develops a slick, upscale edginess for this film. This exquisitely tight cinematic package should hold up for another 35 years or so until it’s time for Jude Law to stars as Andrew Wyke in the third screen adaptation. VS