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Reviews Counted:117
Fresh:42
Rotten:75
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Sleuth is so obvious and coarse, rather than suspenseful and action-packed, that it does nothing to improve on the original version
Theatrical Release:23-11-2007
Synopsis: In 1972, Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine starred in the screen adaptation of SLEUTH, based on Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Olivier played... [More]
Whether you like the film probably depends on whether you can treat it all as seriously as Pinter and Branagh. If you can't, this short, brackish piece will not work at all, even if you don't regard it as a piece of piss.
A Dead Film Walking, a zombie of a film, a shuffling Frankenstein's monster of a film, leaking electricity from its badly-fitting neck bolts, tragically whimpering at the pointless agony of its own brief existence.
Top CriticMessage to Jude: You have more chance of convincingly concealing that receding hairline than becoming the new Michael Caine. Stop trying to be something you are not — a charismatic actor.
This is the kind of intimate physicality that Pinter pumps into Shaffer’s script. But it will take a better director than Branagh to tease it into the real world.
Top CriticDirected by Kenneth Branagh and scripted by no less than Harold Pinter, the wicked charm of Sleuth Mk1 has been stripped away to leave a nasty, dispiriting and strangely cold psychological thriller.
A bold, initially fascinating but ultimately misguided attempt to 'Pinter-ize' an old-fashioned puzzle. Great mysteries leave their audience marveling 'how did they do that?' Sleuth 2007 leaves you scratching your head, wondering why they bothered.
Top CriticCaine and Law rustle up a spicy chemistry which sustains a sizzle for an hour or so. But the second half panders to Pinter’s self-indulgence, unravelling Branagh’s high-tensile head-fuck as a hollow skirmish.
No amount of visual flourish, sadly, can compensate for the woeful lack of chemistry between the leads or arch dialogue that sounds more like a Pinter parody than the man himself.
Top CriticWhen Sylvester Stallone’s Get Carter is no longer the worst remake of a Michael Caine movie, you have to ask yourself: what’s it all about?
Perhaps the year's most pointless remake (and that's saying something), Sleuth is something of a disappointment, thanks to poor direction, dodgy acting and a laughably bad script.
Kenneth Branagh’s direction, its self-consciously skewed angles and surveillance-cam cutaways highlighting his weakness for the misplaced flourish, is more of a hindrance than a help.
Top CriticMinus a couple of brisk, black laughs, this hollow remake botches the twists and sucks the fun right out of its feisty source.
Top CriticSloppy execution of a reasonable concept. A wasted opportunity.
Directed by Branagh as a stylish, nasty tug of war. But it's also murky and overwrought.
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It requires a light touch; I admire Branagh a great deal, but not for his light touch.
Idly plotted then tempered by a blunt ending. All of a sudden the viewer is left pondering 'eh?' as Pinter apparently run out of room on his pad.
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March 10, 2008:
RT on DVD: Call It, Friend-O -- No Country For Old Men Hits DVD
The critically-acclaimed, Oscar-winning No Country For Old Men comes to DVD this week, accompanied by a litany of fellow Fresh films (Lake of Fire, Summer Palace, Dan in Real... More...
November 23, 2007:
Kenneth Branagh on Sleuth: The RT Interview
The Shakespearian thesp tells us about re-adapting the classic play, originally made into a 1972 film with Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine. More...
October 11, 2007:
Critical Consensus: No Debatin' Clayton, Night Almost Owns, Elizabeth Not Golden
This week at the movies we got lawyer types (Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton), dueling brothers (We Own the Night, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark... More...
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