What's it All About
Since his wife left him, Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine), an ageing and famous author, has lived in his ultra high-tech mansion in the midst of a sprawling estate. It is where Milo Tindle (Jude Law) shows up to speak to Andrew as he is his wife's new lover and he plans to use all his skills as an actor to charm Andrew in to divorcing her. But simple persuasion is not going to work as Andrew is a cunning man with a plan to get revenge on his unfaithful wife and her young lover.
So the 2007 version of "Sleuth", a movie which sees Michael Caine playing the opposite role to which he played in the 1972 version. It also sees Jude Law cast in the role Michael Caine played in the 1972 version, the second time which Law has played a role which Caine had originally played. The thing is that as of writing I haven't seen the 1972 version so do not know how this compares, whether it is a soulless as some people who watched the original say it is.
Now I have to be honest as "Sleuth" didn't do that much for me and whilst it is meant to be this smart thriller where you have two intelligent people playing games with each other it just didn't grab me. And the reason is simply too many things end up getting in the way of the intelligence of the mind games and manipulations. The first of which is this high tech home which the movie is set in as all the lights, surveillance cameras and gizmos end up getting in the way, a novelty to dazzle with rather than to enhance the story.
But then there is the casting and to give praise where it is due the pairing of Michael Caine and Jude Law not only has the novelty factor because of Caine having previously played the role Law is playing whilst Law has previously played a Caine role before but they are well matched. The head to head scenes where they fire snappy dialogue off at each other certainly snaps and they certainly seem very much in tune. But not only does that novelty get in the way but the snappiness that they fire of the dialogue makes it feel like the actors have learned their lines but not got in to their parts, it is simply too slick.
What this all boils down to is that "Sleuth" is certainly an interesting movie but for me it isn't as entertaining as I hoped and suffers from too many distractions.
