Venice. Sleuth.

"The wicked bitchiness between two men is pitched darkly perfect in Sleuth, Kenneth Branagh's incisive tête-à-tête remake of Joseph Mankiewicz's final film Sleuth (1972), based upon Anthony Schaeffer's 1970 Tony Award-winning play and given a whole new set of teeth by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter," writes Michael Guillén. "This is absolutely one of the few times I can say without reservation that I prefer the remake to the original. It bites much deeper and draws blood."

"[T]hose who know the original may wonder after awhile if their minds aren't playing tricks on them," suggests Robert Koehler in Variety. "The results will be received with a large, loud yawn by all but the most loyal fans of Pinter and hard-working co-stars Michael Caine and Jude Law... Just as Shaffer intended to remodel the creaky [Agatha] Christie model of the English manor mystery into something a bit more au courant for the early 70s when it first appeared on the West End, so Pinter - possibly the greatest living playwright in the English language - apparently wished to remodel Shaffer's play.... Immediately, though, this is a radically different Sleuth, one that feels at times like Pinter self-parody."

Updates, 8/31: Sleuth "loses its grip in the third act and let's the air out of what might have been a memorably gripping film," writes Ray Bennett for the Hollywood Reporter. "The idea of Caine doing a remake of the 1972 production in which he costarred but playing the Laurence Olivier role, and Jude Law, who has already stepped into Caine's shoes in Alfie, doing Caine's part will no doubt intrigue audiences. The quartet of big names and a tight 86-minute running time also will help, but the film's downbeat tone won't encourage huge boxoffice."

Martin Wainwright catches the press conference for the Guardian: "Law volunteered a comparison between Sleuth and Alfie, telling critics: 'Michael is many, many, many actors' heroes and he is certainly an acting hero of mine. The modern version of Alfie to me was a challenge because I hadn't played a character like that before. I don't know that I did it particularly well.'"

A "treat," reports a delighted Boyd van Hoeij at european-films.net. "Although the work of the late Anthony Shaffer may seem like an unlikely source for Branagh after his adaptations of Shakespeare and Mozart, the 1970 play as reworked by Pinter is a perfect fit for the actor-turned-director and the two actors that make up the entire casting list of Sleuth."

"[B]leaker and blacker," notes Derek Malcolm in the Evening Standard. "[I]f it would look more comfortable on the stage, at least Branagh's 85-minute film is wise enough to keep things short and sharp."

"It's agreeable, but doesn't add up to much," sighs the Telegraph's David Gritten.

"Despite what Martin Wainwright writes in the Guardian today, the feeling, at least among European film critics, was of huge disappointment if not scorn," blogs Agnès Poirer. "The real hindrance comes from the direction: Kenneth Branagh is no Joseph L Mankiewicz, and his style is as flat as the Venitien Laguna on a quiet day. The audience should be gripped, on the edge of our seats, yet we're left simply bored, hardly interested in what should be a sparring firework."

The Italian media, though, has given Sleuth "pretty positive notice," reports Mark Salisbury at In the Company of Glenn. For him, though, the film "is sunk by a woefully unconvincing Law performance, terrible (and terribly distracting) production design from Tim Harvey... and Branagh's failure to make the one location and two men work visually."

Update, 9/3: "[H]ow could it fail?" asks the Observer's Jason Solomons. "Let me count the ways. Although well received by the Italians, Sleuth was excruciating, like some dreadful school play in which the old English teacher (Caine) has a go and the golden head boy (Jude) embarrasses himself. A tasteless set, dated dialogue and flailing direction add to the misery."

Update, 9/6: "Sleuth isn't incendiary or ground-breaking; it's a chance to see two very good actors (who also happen to be movie stars) work with very good material under the direction of a very good director," writes Cinematical's James Rocchi from Toronto. "Depending on your standards, that's either not much, or it's plenty. Sleuth is light entertainment made by heavy-hitters, and your initial reaction to that seemingly-contradictory fact will probably be the best prediction of whether or not you'll see it, and whether or not you'll enjoy it."

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Covering the coverage: Venice 07. Index.

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Posted by dwhudson at August 30, 2007 3:30 PM