In something of a twist, Michael Caine, who played the young actor Milo Tindle in the 1972 film "Sleuth," now plays Tindle's nemesis Andrew Wyke in the 2007 version of the film.
For the record, Sir Laurence Olivier played opposite Caine in the heralded 1972 film, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and written by Anthony Shaffer, who adapted his own stage drama for the screen. This time ‘round no less than Harold Pinter did the adaptation and Kenneth Branagh was in the director's chair.
Jude Law plays Tindle, a young, attractive actor who shows up on the country estate of successful crime novelist Wyke asking that the writer divorce his wife Maggie, who currently lives in London with Tindle. They want to get married and Maggie wants a share of the Wyke assets.
Wyke is crafty and quickly begins luring Tindle into a game that may have very dangerous results. But he underestimates Tindle and so goes this taut film for the next 85 or so minutes.
The settings are over-the-top "modern" -- although anachronistically set, perhaps, in an old country estate (a reflection of the young vs. old conflict?) -- and the camera work is often equally dizzying.
Wyke has years of tricks up his sleeve -- perhaps from his books or perhaps from what his estranged wife has described as his criminal tendencies -- and like him, we viewers tend to believe, at least early on, that Tindle is out of his depth.
But then the sparky and snarky young actor -- or hairdresser? Occasional chauffer -- matches Wyke step for step and we wonder if the tables have turned for good. But like a good tennis match, there is tension and the lead changes hands more than once.
Although one might not expect Law to be able to similarly match Caine step for step, he does so in the first act (if not in the second) -- and the two seem well paired in this game of wits.
The plot turns are interesting -- if not always entirely unexpected -- although often the delivery of the dialogue has a stiff and stilted thespian feel that may derive from the birth of this work on the stage.
That the two men are so unflinchingly clever and so unfetteredly cocky, possessing such demonically evil imaginations -- as well as Wyke's astonishing inability to spot a major ruse in the film -- hurls the entire film over the top at times.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
