Sleuth (2007)

Director:

Kenneth Branagh

Writers:

Harold Pinter (screenplay)
Anthony Shaffer (play)

Release Date:

11 October 2007 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Obey the rules.

Plot:

On his sprawling country estate, an aging writer matches wits with the struggling actor who has stolen his wife's heart.

Plot Keywords:

Game | Divorce | Cat And Mouse | Mind Game | Estate

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Michael Caine	...	Andrew
Jude Law	...	Milo
Harold Pinter	...	Man on T.V.
Carmel O'Sullivan	...	Maggie

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

USA:86 min | Argentina:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | Ireland:15A | Italy:T | Australia:M (re-rating after appeal) | Australia:MA (original rating) | UK:15 | Germany:12 | Argentina:16 | Taiwan:R-12 | Japan:PG-12 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Greece:K-17 | New Zealand:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-13

Filming Locations:

Twickenham Film Studios, St Margarets, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

Sony Pictures Classics

Trivia:

At one point in the film Milo asks Andrew "What's it all about?" This was the tag line for both versions of the movie ‘Alfie’, each of which starred Michael Caine and Jude Law in the title role.

Goofs:

Continuity: The jewels that Milo puts onto Andrew disappears after Milo tells Andrew that it is just a game.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Andrew Wyke: Yes?
Milo Tindle: Andrew Wyke?
Andrew Wyke: That's right.
Milo Tindle: I'm Milo Tindle.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2007-10-13)" (2007)

More than meets the eye.

"If thou canst cuckold him, thou dost thyself a pleasure, me a sport." Iago in Shakespeare's Othello

Anthony Shaffer's brother, Peter, was famously about "What's that all about?" if you remember the mysteries of Equus. Playwright Anthony's Sleuth also requires a competent literary "sleuth" to figure out the multiple levels of meaning in a film that could be just about revenge if you looked no further. This brilliant adaptation by Pulitzer-winner and minimalist Harold Pinter contains his usual spare dialogue and non sequitur logic to provoke wonderment and amusement in a discerning audience that knows there's more than meets the eye and ear.

Wealthy novelist Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine) is visited in his impressive estate by his wife's lover, Milo Tindle (Jude Law). From the first interchange about the superiority of Wyke's car, which is placed nose to nose with Tindle's in an obviously figurative bird's-eye shot, the debate takes on a tennis metaphor, where each combatant takes a set and the resolution becomes a tangled endgame.

While it is easy to guess Shaffer has planned the author initially to be the manipulative superior as he guides his guest through one of the year's best set designs with its modern sharp edges and dazzling electronics, the play/film evolves with each character (this is a two hander where not even the tennis-ball wife physically intrudes) gets a chance to prove his worth for the absent but always present wife. Director Kenneth Branagh's close-ups are merciless upon Caine's age lines emphasizing his wisdom and Law's beauty featuring his youthful volatility and vulnerability. But the prevalent high angle motif puts all the mayhem in perspective: The cuckold will not be denied, no matter how daring, resourceful, and remorseless the intruder is; the men's sexuality will be challenged no matter how masculine the actors are. Ambiguity rules as it should in all effective literature and in life itself.

While the screenplay is literate beyond anything out there all year, the film belongs to the actors, Law soaring beyond his Ripley charm and Caine even better than when he played Law's Tindle in a previous screen version 35 years ago. The story about infidelity is universally appealing, as if it had never been told before and justice had never been rendered so well.