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.
No comments:
Post a Comment