Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

Develiker terrible... so disappointed.

MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

chaswe-28402 Takes the Mickey, as they say. Surprise, surprise. The joke's on Shaffer, but I don't think he knew it. He doesn't seem at all aware of it in his off-putting interview, so intensely modest. Lord Olivier, whom we all know as Larry, is first reported to have had an extremely low opinion of Sleuth. It's a piece of p, he is supposed to have told Anthony Quayle, while railing at him for appearing in the original stage performance. I can't help feeling that Larry eventually leapt at the opportunity of taking the p out of Shaffer by performing in it himself. He gives the hammiest ever act as the passé whodunnit writer, capturing every nuance of cliché, in wild exaggeration. No-one seems aware of just how corny he comes across; not Shaffer, Mankiewicz, or even Mickey Caine. Or are they ? Or we ? It's very difficult to tell. But these days it's also a little difficult to last the full distance. Its almost unaccountable past popularity must have been because it was different then, though virtually dead today. Do the young of these times catch the slightest whiff of this kind of whimsy Wimsey ?

SnoopyStyle Crime fiction writer Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier) invites hairdresser Milo Tindle (Michael Caine). He surprises Milo with questioning if he wanted to marry his wife Marguerite. Marguerite is high maintenance and he suggests a scheme to Milo to steal his jewelery while he claims the insurance. After guiding Milo all around the house in a fake break-in, he shoots Milo. Inspector Doppler comes to investigate Milo's disappearance but it's only the start of the continuing twists.What's the motivation for Milo to go see Andrew in the first place? What's in the note? That kind of bothered me. It starts like an Agatha Christie murder mystery in that it feels fake. It's highly questionable why Milo would trust anything that Andrew comes up with. The whole fake break-in feels fake. Luckily it's a little comical. It's fun to have Olivier and Caine play around but I never bought into the whole premise. I'm not thrilled by all the twists and turns. It felt like manufactured story constructions but Olivier and Caine are wonderful.

Lucas Versantvoort People who think games of cat-and-mouse were popularized by modern series like frickin' Death Note need to take a good hard look at not only themselves, but films like Sleuth. Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve) and written by Anthony Schaffer (Frenzy, The Wicker Man), this film is classic game of cat and mouse jam-packed with memorable scenes and dialogue.The game/film starts with hairdresser Milo Tindle (Michael Caine) visiting mystery writer Andrew Wyke (Laurence Olivier) at his large country house. Milo is dating Andrew's wife Marguerite, you see, so already we've got a conflict of interest. Andrew, however, has no qualms about divorcing her, but doesn't want to drown in alimony in the process. Marguerite has expensive tastes, you see. After getting to know (and dislike) each other a bit, Andrew proposes a plan: Milo will rob some valuable jewels in his house which he can then pawn off in Amsterdam while Andrew collects the insurance money. All goes well, until… Honestly, I could describe what happens then, but that plot twist occurs around the one hour mark, so that would ruin a bit too much of the fun.Being a game of cat and mouse, the film has lots of fun with familiar tropes in this genre. I always sensibly chuckle whenever collecting insurance money is a major plot element. The fact that Andrew is himself a mystery writer only makes it better. The film's ending is also a wonderfully literal visualization of that good old mystery trope, the last laugh. Thankfully, however, the self-awareness doesn't ruin the suspense. Quite the opposite. There's a lot of tension hidden under the veritable mountain of witty lines.I will say that I didn't love Sleuth after first seeing it many years ago. It's mostly to do with something involving a disguise. At the time, I immediately identified him for who he really was so the eventual reveal was disappointing. I always assumed it was supposed to be this big twist for the audience, but since it failed miserably, I felt disappointed with the film. Having watched it again recently, I figure the joke is supposed to be on the other character and not the audience. The audience, rather than being surprised, can anticipate the other guy's reaction when he discovers he's been deceived. At least, I hope that's the case.Now, the acting. It's easily half the film. The film is roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes long and it all mostly takes place in Andrew's house, but it never gets boring and it's precisely due to the acting and the witty screenplay. The entire film is predicated upon Milo and Andrew verbally sparring and it doesn't disappoint. Both Caine and Olivier don't miss a single beat and the script's supply of morbidly delightful lines is virtually limitless. Mankiewicz's direction also helps. He makes up for the lack of variety in locales by occasionally cutting to quick shots of the house's bizarre decorations, which include an array of dolls, to reinforce the sense of dread underlying the proceedings.As to why the film is still impressive, I assume it's to do with a combination of witty dialogue, acting and…its brand of cruelty. It's not so much in what they force each other to do, but what they force each other to feel. It's why Sleuth is such a funny, but also cruel film even by today's standards. Today, cruelty is primarily exemplified by physical pain as seen in the Saw films, etc. Sleuth is the exact opposite. It's about humiliation and inflicting as much psychological pain on each other.But make no mistake, Sleuth is also very funny. You have to ignore your expectations of typical dramas and go into Sleuth expecting a game, albeit a morbid one. The film is at its core quite ridiculous, but that's part of the deal…and the fun.

gavin6942 A man who loves games and theater (Larry Olivier) invites his wife's lover (Michael Caine) to meet him, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.As far as detective stories go, this may be the best ever put to film. And the cast is incredible. With all due respect to Olivier, Michael Caine steals the show and gives a performance unlike we have ever seen from him. Although he is never a bad actor, it is rare that he excels on quite this level.Although not the primary plot, class conflict is also raised between Wyke, the long-established English country gentleman, compared to Tindle, the son of an Italian immigrant from the working-class streets of London. This is an interesting subplot, because it makes one wonder: is Wyke upset that his wife is having an affair, or more upset that she is with someone he sees as beneath her?