Caine never sees that final twist coming

 DEATHTRAP (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There is nothing better than a mystery that throws curveballs at you at every turn, and you are never sure where you stand. "Deathtrap," based on the hugely popular Broadway play by Ira Levin, keeps you guessing. Having seen it twice before, I forgot some of the intricate details and nuances in dialogue and the surprises in store with characters you think are dead when in fact they are not.

Michael Caine is a famous New York playwright, Sidney Bruhl, who is watching his latest mystery play come apart at the seams. Sidney hears the audience whisper at their disbelief that it was written by him, and then we get the polite applause at the end. Sidney gets drunk and heads home to his rustic house in East Hampton though he sleeps through the ride and winds up in the northernmost tip of East New York, that is Montauk! Sidney lives with his literally heartsick wife (Dyan Cannon), who screams every time she sees Sidney or anyone else entering the home. He is distraught over the bad reviews by actual film/theater critics like the late Stewart Klein, the late Joel Siegel and the still living Jeffrey Lyons. What can he do? Well, there is a manuscript sent to him titled "Deathtrap" by a former student of his from a seminar. It is clever, polished and has exquisite twists and turns. Sidney would literally kill for it.

Sidney invites the student, Clifford (Christopher Reeve - absolutely fabulous), and they have a discussion about the manuscript. Meanwhile, Sidney's wife is wondering if her husband will actually kill the writer and pass off this new play as his own. Oh, but there is also the sneaky neighbor, a psychic, who sees a lot more than Sidney thinks. And, well gee, I will not get into it any further because that would mean spoiling the surprises and the twists that seemingly come out of nowhere. 

"Deathtrap" is not exclusively over-the-top or too theatrical and that is largely due to director Sidney Lumet who restrains his actors just a tad. This also makes the art direction of the rustic house with a windmill always watchable - you never quite see the same interior shot over and over again as the angles get tighter in certain shots and wider in others (some of this reminded me of Lumet's canny debut "12 Angry Men"). Michael Caine is devilishly good as the playwright who is hoping for another hit - money means everything to this guy. Christopher Reeve is thrillingly alive and gives a coiled snap of a performance as the student with more up his sleeve than we previously thought - less mannered than in his Clark Kent/Superman roles. Only Dyan Cannon seems far too histrionic, too panic-stricken though she's much calmer in close-up reaction shots. 

"Deathtrap" also includes a little too much of that nosy neighbor, and it can be a bit of a migraine to listen to this character endlessly pontificating about her suspicions of "pain" all around this house. Still, I was consistently thrilled and involved with "Deathtrap" and it works up a sweat keeping up with these characters' uttering their whip smart dialogue. It is also helpful to have Michael Caine as the anchor of this movie, exuding callousness, nervousness and an alert intelligence throughout. Of course, he never sees that final twist coming.   

Caine's Eyes are the real menace

 THE HAND (1981)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

When Michael Caine gets angry or acts tough, his mouth tightens up and his eyes become reptilian and menacing as if he is ready to hunt his prey. Such piercing eyes are really the focus, or should have been, for a peculiar and quite fascinating psychological horror film called "The Hand." I remember watching it on video back in 1982 and thought it was a primal, scary film. Today, I can say the film still works a nerve and makes you sweat a little. Caine is the lead star and his eyes say much more than some severed, crawling killer hand. The eyes have it, as far as I am concerned.

Successful cartoonist Jonathan Lansdale (Michael Caine) is having a nearly loveless marriage with his depressed wife (a powerfully understated Andrea Marcovicci) who wants to seek a new environment and a new life. They have a cute, curious child (adorably curly-haired Mara Hobel, memorable in "Mommie Dearest") who one day notices a severed lizard's tail moving on its own (the source novel is titled "The Lizard's Tail") and wonders how that can be. Jonathan is on a car trip to deliver comic-drawing proofs when a near-accident with a truck and another car causes his right hand to be severed. He receives a solid prosthetic hand but it doesn't help with his drawings one bit. After his agent secures another cartoonist to draw and ink Jonathan's ideas and his marriage is going downhill fast, Jonathan takes a job teaching in California. There he has a quick roll in the hay with a dynamic student (Annie McEnroe) who wants to keep it old-fashioned by, you know, "doing it on the bed." Meanwhile, the severed hand that Jonathan and his wife tried to find has a life of its own and starts offing people. One is a bum (Oliver Stone, no less, who also directed) who is also a hand amputee. There are others and it is clear that Jonathan through telepathy (!) and murmuring something in his sleep (and while he's awake) can command that severed hand to kill. 

The ending is quite thrilling though it is perplexing as it leaves some questions about whether the hand is murderous or if Jonathan is actually killing people or is it both. In one highly dramatic scene, that special hand scribbles all over his proofs which causes Jonathan to lose his job which begs more questions - is this hand trying to help Jonathan or ruin his life? Call it a hand with pin-sized plot holes in it. Oliver Stone already knew how to direct his actors and also manages to create a creepy atmosphere utilizing the scenery of the country setting, though he never did another horror film (Stone completists will notice his early attempt to change color to black-and-white in a couple of scenes, which do precious little to explain if Jonathan has a gradual psychosis or not). 

"The Hand" is never boring and Michael Caine has his incredible charm and steely, reptilian eyes which makes the film far more watchable than you might think. He is a master craftsman who makes the cast look good - that is a special gift. It's the eyes that sell it. The less of the hand that we see, the better. Why nobody ever cast Caine in a remake of "X - The Man With X-Ray Eyes" continues to baffle me. 

Abracadabra

 THE PRESTIGE (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Though I admire director Christopher Nolan's "Batman" trilogy, I had always hoped he would return to the unforeseen twists of a hyperbolic mystery like his "Memento." I am late to the party with my 2022 review of a 2006 film called "The Prestige" yet here we are. "The Prestige" is a solid production with incredible cinematography and two superb performances at its center yet I never quite felt that everything was beyond the mere surface of its various tricks up its sleeve. The unbelievable finale will leave you with your mouth hanging.

Two magicians at the turn of the century begin as "volunteers" for Milton the Magician (Ricky Jay). One of them is Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), who can conjure simple magic tricks yet has very little showmanship. The other is Angiers (Hugh Jackman), who has showmanship and can conjure more elaborate, showier tricks like placing his wife, tied up with ropes, inside a water tank. If anything goes wrong, Cutter (Michael Caine), a magician and stage engineer, will be on hand with an axe - he has a career of being the engineer of such tricks. Something goes fatally wrong when Angiers' wife (Piper Perabo) can't free herself from being bound inside the water tank and drowns. Guess who is blamed? Alfred, who simply made the rope knots too tight. 

The rest of "The Prestige" focuses on Borden and Angiers and their attempts to wow the audience. Borden conjures a trick where he is seemingly transported from one wardrobe to the next. Angiers can't figure out his trick - how does he do it? For assistance, he consults Nikola Tesla (David Bowie, talk about electrifying casting) who is working on alternative currents of electricity where our bodies serve as conductors. The idea is that maybe Tesla can build a teleportation device for Angiers, one in which miraculously, oh, heck, I shan't give it away. It is the secret of the film, the prestige factor, that can undo one's enjoyment if I give it away.

"The Prestige" is a handsomely mounted and elaborately detailed production with some very fine performances, notably Hugh Jackman who is and looks larger-than-life so playing a magician was perfectly tailored to his abilities. Christian Bale is a little more remote as he can be, more muted in expressions yet a galvanizing actor all the way (especially since he is playing more than one role, and we will leave it at that). Michael Caine informs the film with his more nuanced portrayal of a man who has seen it all and knows that extreme obsessions (Angiers needs to know how Borden performs his teleportation trick) can lead to destruction. The whole film plays on Angiers and Borden trying to disrupt their own illusions on stage. The film derails a bit with the inclusion of the women in these magicians' lives. Scarlett Johansson is never believable in this time period as Borden's mistress and assistant, who also has an affection for Angiers. Rebecca Hall fits the time period to a tee as Borden's wife, though her character is more than a bit undernourished. 

"The Prestige" is quite forceful in its narrative, especially with the magician rules such as  (1) the Pledge, in which a seemingly real situation is set up, (2) the Turn, in which the initial reality is challenged, and (3) the Prestige, where all is set right again. Once we get past the foreshadowed final twist involving a magical act, the idea of The Prestige rule doesn't quite settle in. All is right again when the film is over yet, not unlike the fabulous sleight of hand narrative tricks of "The Usual Suspects," we come up empty wondering how we arrived at its conclusion. A solid Nolan effort that will make you want to rewatch it and see what you missed.

Harold Pinter has not sprinkled enough fresh powder

 SLEUTH (2007)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There was no reason in hell to remake the 1972 twisty classic "Sleuth" with its slew of willful mind games and carefully balanced moments of truth and comedy between two of the greatest actors of all time, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. This 2007 refurbished version with Michael Caine playing Olivier's role and Jude Law playing Caine's role is a novel idea I suppose, not to mention a new spin on some of the original story's events by no less than the legendary writer Harold Pinter. Yet all that is nothing more than faint praise.

Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine) is a very wealthy mystery novelist who lives in a country manor in the middle of the English countryside, the kind where a gunshot could probably not be heard for miles. He has an extensive surveillance system and catches the arrival of a car driven by none other than Milo Tindle (Jude Law), who is having an affair with Andrew's wife. Andrew taunts and teases Milo including Milo's Italian heritage (or is this young man actually Irish?). Eventually Andrew wants Milo to commit a burglary in his own home and steal some priceless jewelry. Why? Well, it is the only way Andrew will permit Milo to take his wife, please, and have the good life. Of course, Andrew still hasn't divorced his wife.

The mind games build and build and lead to a twist involving Andrew and some private investigator who is searching for Milo, and then more twists that lead to a flirtation with homosexual overtones. The latter twist was not present in the 1972 film, nor was the inside of Andrew's home resembling anything like a modernist, cubist-like museum with blue-ish hues present either. I know every remake can use an upgrade but this manor feels like it should be a gallery.

Michael Caine has more nuance and implications in his mannerisms and long stares than anything Jude Law does. Jude is simply fodder for Caine yet I never felt fully convinced by Jude's performance - he seems like a gimmick from the start and never builds his character with a shred of sympathy like Caine did in the original. Director Kenneth Branagh makes good use of the location and with the intense close-ups of both actors yet the art direction of the inside of the manor never quite manages to look like the outside - the inside feels more like a swanky New York apartment on the Upper West Side. 

"Sleuth" is not an execrable remake but it is an unnecessary one and Harold Pinter hasn't sprinkled enough fresh powder on the dusty and exciting original as one might hope.