The Film:
How does a highly praised film with multiple award wins and nominations and widely praised for its time go relatively unnoticed by modern day audiences? Well, I don't know, but it is damn shame because 1972's Sleuth is a damn good movie and so few people have ever seen it.
Starring Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, the film garnering multiple academy award nominations, including 2 Best actor nods, Screenplay, Director and Best Picture (not wining any). It still carries a 96% rating on rottentomatoes.com as well as an 8.1 user rating on imdb (good for #241 on their Top 250 list) and does still hold up well against its contemporaries.
Based on what was one of the most popular plays of the time, both in England as well as America (taking home the 1971 Tony Award for Best Play), the play/film tells the story of a mystery writer Andrew Wyke (Olivier), who invites Milo Tindle (Caine), a young hairdresser who has been having an affair with Wyke's wife, to his country home to commit the perfect robbery. Over the the next few days the two men engage in a battle of wits with a number of twists and turns up to its unexpected and memorable conclusion.
Both the film and the play were written by Anthony Schaffer who would follow up Sleuth with the screenplay for another famous mystery, the original The Wicker Man.
The Pros:
Villain and hero are not clearly set, which makes for an interesting film, since you wont be able to tell who is going to have the upper hand when all is said and done. Then when the film does reach its fantastic conclusion, it is both satisfying as well as unpredictable, a quality many films lack in recent memory.
As mentioned before, both Caine and Olivier are fantastic in the lead roles, really playing off of each other exceptionally well, and being able to put themselves in the position of their counterparts seamlessly. They range both exude showcases why they are both legends as far as craft of acting is concerned, and should be seen by anyone who appreciates such things.
The dialogue is also top-notch, with once everything is said and done you realize that everything you needed to know was given to you flawlessly with hardly anything feeling forced. What exposition that is given is brief and to the point and quickly moved on from.
Sleuth really is a classic movie, exhibiting everything you could possibly want in a movie using the bare minimum to get the story across (though not in a cheap way) which is ultimately more suiting for the film
The Cons:
One of the downsides to Sleuth is that it feels very stagey, there is not to much technically impressive about the film with most of the film taking place in a few room and that causes there to be very little action throughout the film. In it’s defense though, when action does happen, its made all the more effective. Which makes sense given the fact that the film was taken from and very true to a play.
Overall, the film seems very limited technically in what it does, it opens with a great crane shot of Milo arriving at Wyke’s home and making his way through a hedge maze to meet him, and at the very end of the film as well. After that it seems to bare down on the technical aspect of the film relying more on the performances and script over any technical aspects and rarely moving outside of the house the bulk of the action takes place in. Personally, I feel it adds to the film’s overall strength, but other’s may be turned off by it. That coupled with a running time of just over two hours could be a turnoff to a lot of viewers.
The big downside of the film, and the one that has contributed to many people not seeing it, is it’s rarity. It is extremely rare, with copies going for $50-100. That is for just a basic copy of the film, not a Criterion or Blu-Ray. Personally it doesn’t matter how much I love a film, that is way too much for any movie. I have personally seen 1 copy of the DVD of the movie at a library, every other version I’ve seen has been a VHS. There are barely any torrents of the film (not that any form of piracy is condoned). Sleuth has been posted in its entirety on youtube, which given the outrageous prices of procuring a video copy of it might be the best option of being able to see the film (though since it isn’t public domain that could be piracy as well, I’m not that familiar with internet laws to either of supporting or disapproving of such viewing)
Conclusion:
Despite the film’s shortcomings, I still believe if given the opportunity, be it youtube or the rare television viewing (usually on Turner Classic Movies). It is well worth a look, just for the fact that it serves as a testament that the combination of good writing and directing can carry a film that is otherwise limited. Enjoy.
IMDB Page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069281/
Quick note: There was a 2007 remake featuring Michael Caine (as Wyke) and Jude Law (as Milo), which I have not seen yet so I can neither recommend or tell you to avoid, but given the limited release and poor reviews I did read I can only imagine that it is not very good. Once I do see it I will put together a follow-up to let you know my thoughts
**Please Note: None of the images or trailer belong to me. They belong to Palomar Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
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