Sleuth (2007)

5/10

Strong cast but mediocre remake
Sleuth is about an aging writer on his sprawling country estate, matches wits with the struggling actor who has stolen his wife's heart.

Sleuth is a remake of the 1972 movie Sleuth, which was adopted from the play Sleuth by Anthony Shaffer.

The original play, cast and cinematography of this 2007 film captured my attention but the remake just did not succeed as its predecessor.

I read the synopsis of the play that the 1972 Sleuth was based on and realized that the 2007 version left a lot of the vital story out. The 1972 Sleuth had a much more complicated and detailed cat and mouse game between Tindle and Wyke, where they each try to out do the other again and again. It focused on the 'game' element.

On the other hand, the 2007 version to some extent attempted to do the same, but seemed to have given up half way through. However, the 2007 remake left much of the storyline and the 'games' out. The newer version does have some neat cinematography and two incredible actors, but the lack of the original storyline made the film a flop. I would have prefered the newest version of Sleuth to stick closer to the original plot instead of leaving so much out. ---The play won the Tony Award for Best Play for a reason.

The interesting bit that I found was that Michael Caine, who played Wyke in the 2007 remake was Tiddle in the 1972 version. So if you watch both Sleuth back to back you can see the transition in Caine's performance as Wyke and Tiddle.