I was lucky enough to catch the stage version of "Sleuth" in London as a teenager in 1974. It was - and still is - the most involving and entertaining mystery play I've ever seen (kudos 30 years later to the two actors whose names I no longer recall). So when I saw a video version of this play in 1990 or so, I was anxious to see if the snap and pop of the stage play would carry over to film. Boy, did it ever. In spite of the enormous bite of my budget, I gladly spent the $20+ to have it, and watched it several more times in the intervening years on a slow weekend late at night.
What prompted this review in 2007 was that the Mystery channel revived it a few nights back, and even though I already have a VHS copy, I stayed up to watch it. (That's how much of a fan I am). The best part was that Paramount supplied the "closed caption" feature, and so I was finally able to catch the full meaning of a few phrases that had escaped me over the years (especially when Wyke calls Tindall a "jumped up pantry boy who doesn't know his place." I had thought Wyke called him a "pansy boy", but "pantry boy" makes much more sense now that I understand the landed English gentry's attitude towards the immigrant class.)
Jesus, this is a great movie - IF you like plots involving psychological tension and a battle of wits. Yes, there are a couple of lapses in the film version that might weaken the story a bit more (the reviewer who mentions that you can't help but notice
*****SPOILER********* that Inspector Doppler is just Tindal with makeup *****SPOILER ENDS*****
is dead on. But it doesn't really matter after you've seen the story for the first time, anyway, and I've watched it at least six times now in the past 15 years. I just like the hell out of this production.
The younger version of me was horrified and appalled by the denouement, but the older me -who understands disappointment and fatalism and Pyrrhic victory - now finds it perfectly appropriate and satisfying. Watching young Michael Caine hold his own with superstar Laurence Olivier also provides a special kind of satisfaction - knowing how long and storied a career Caine has enjoyed, it's a lot of fun seeing the raw talent and "juice" in the actor as he starts out.
If you haven't seen "Sleuth" and you like psychological drama (like "Deathtrap", which is the only similar movie that even comes close to being this good), you owe it to yourself to set aside some time to see "Sleuth".
What prompted this review in 2007 was that the Mystery channel revived it a few nights back, and even though I already have a VHS copy, I stayed up to watch it. (That's how much of a fan I am). The best part was that Paramount supplied the "closed caption" feature, and so I was finally able to catch the full meaning of a few phrases that had escaped me over the years (especially when Wyke calls Tindall a "jumped up pantry boy who doesn't know his place." I had thought Wyke called him a "pansy boy", but "pantry boy" makes much more sense now that I understand the landed English gentry's attitude towards the immigrant class.)
Jesus, this is a great movie - IF you like plots involving psychological tension and a battle of wits. Yes, there are a couple of lapses in the film version that might weaken the story a bit more (the reviewer who mentions that you can't help but notice
*****SPOILER********* that Inspector Doppler is just Tindal with makeup *****SPOILER ENDS*****
is dead on. But it doesn't really matter after you've seen the story for the first time, anyway, and I've watched it at least six times now in the past 15 years. I just like the hell out of this production.
The younger version of me was horrified and appalled by the denouement, but the older me -who understands disappointment and fatalism and Pyrrhic victory - now finds it perfectly appropriate and satisfying. Watching young Michael Caine hold his own with superstar Laurence Olivier also provides a special kind of satisfaction - knowing how long and storied a career Caine has enjoyed, it's a lot of fun seeing the raw talent and "juice" in the actor as he starts out.
If you haven't seen "Sleuth" and you like psychological drama (like "Deathtrap", which is the only similar movie that even comes close to being this good), you owe it to yourself to set aside some time to see "Sleuth".