When famed writer Andrew Wyke loses his wife to a younger, more charming Milo Tindle, Wyke is anything but happy and seeks revenge for the betrayal. His opportunity surfaces when Tindle decides to pay the seasoned writer a visit, hoping to finalize a divorce that will allow him and the now separated Mrs. Wyke to legally wed. Innocent Tindle walks right into a game of wit and revenge; however not everything is as it seems, and just when you think the game is over "¦ you realize it has just begun.
With a small cast and a single set, Sleuth relies heavily on performance and story. Regretfully, the story drags throughout and loses all sense of style and direction towards the end becoming both predictable and soulless.
Michael Caine, who switched roles from his previous position as the charming Tindle in the 1972 original, puts in an average performance as the crazy, intelligent and witty writer Andrew Wyke. He and Law, who plays the other half of this clever mind game, are the only two actors in the film and both work brilliantly together, each pulling their own weight. Unfortunately the story is predictable and overloaded with unneeded dialogue, resulting in a film that even two seasoned veteran actors can't save.
The story starts out strong, proving to be unique, eerie and somewhat confusing, but loses its appeal by the "˜third act' becoming nothing more than a generic mind thriller. In simple terms, the story overdid everything. The dialogue was too much, the game was too long, and director Kenneth Branagh did one of the worst jobs I have seen in years.
Trying to create a distinctive style, Branagh decided to use the 30+ camera that serve as Wyke's surveillance system to his advantage. Unfortunately the tactic was quickly overused and became a roadblock to the fluidity of the film. The angles became off balanced, not to mention the extra thought that had to be exerted to figure out how everything was happening. The story was creative enough, adding in unneeded "˜camera creativity' did nothing but drive this film down, giving it no chance of recovery.
In the end Sleuth is nothing special. The story is unique and showed potential; unfortunately it never developed and became a predictable, uneventful and at times boring film.
