MOVIES: Sleuth (Kenneth Branagh, 2007)

Second film adaptation of Anthony Shaffer's twisty mystery play.

The first version (oddly enough, not yet available on DVD) came in 1972, and gave us Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine as Andrew Wyke and Milo Tindle, who become entangled in a deadly battle of wits when Milo visits Andrew in an attempt to persuade Andrew to give his wife a divorce so that she can run away with Milo.

For the new version, Michael Caine swaps roles to play Andrew, with Jude Law stepping in as Milo. Harold Pinter's screenplay keeps the bare bones of Shaffer's original, though there are a few substantial revisions, especially in the third act, which takes the subterranean homoeroticism of the original and makes it overt. This is not to the benefit of the movie, I don't think; as viciously as the men have been dueling for the first hour of the film, it stretches plausibility to have them suddenly outright flirting with one another.

Another big change -- the look of the movie. Olivier's Andrew lived in a cozy country home, cluttered with overstuffed furniture and an enormous collection of windup dolls and toys. In contrast, Caine's Andrew lives in an austere high-tech mansion, sparsely furnished and lit in cool blue, every inch monitored by security cameras.

Caine does fine work as Andrew, a sly conniver who relishes this duel with Milo; Andrew is a writer of mystery novels, after all, and this battle is essentially a chance to test his skills in real time. Law isn't quite at the same level, but has some nice moments as Milo; he's the more desperate of the two men, and it's easier to see the wheels spinning as he tries to keep up with Andrew. (As for Milo's most surprising moment, early in the second act -- which I'm trying not to give away here -- I watched the movie with a friend who wasn't familiar with the story, so didn't know what was coming, and Law fooled him completely in that sequence.)

The new Sleuth isn't an awful movie; it'll certainly keep you entertained. But its strongest effect on me was to make me want to see the original again.