Sleuth (2007)

Hilarity ensues as two extremely clever British men are in a game of trickery and deceit. Andrew Wyke (Michael Caine), an aging famous author who lives alone in a high-tech mansion, after his wife Maggie has left him for a younger man; and Milo Tindle (Jude Law), an aspiring actor, equipped with charm and wit, who demonstrates both qualities once again). When Wyke invite Tindle to his mansion, Tindle seeks to convince the former into letting his wife go by signing the divorce paper. However, Wyke seems far more interested in playing mind games with his wife's new lover, and lures him into a series of actions he thoroughly planned in seeking revenge on his unfaithful spouse.

Trivia: This is the second film of Michael Caine's to be remade with Jude Law taking over the Michael Caine role. Previously, Law appeared in Alfie. Michael Caine switches roles in this movie. Caine played the Tindale role with Lawrence Olivier in the Wyke role in the original 1972 version. The film was shot entirely in sequence. The remote used by Andrew Wyke is actually an Apple Universal remote used to control Apple Computers/iPod Docks.

With just about every remake, it is inevitable that if you have seen the original you will compare it to the original and it is hard to review it without being influenced by the original. I have seen the original. The '72 version starring Caine and Lawrence Olivier was a light hearted psychological mind game, not just between the two men, but with the audience. The twists and turns in the movie kept you captivated and it was a tour de force for the two actors and looked like they were really haveing a lot of fun. I highly recommend it. Now back to this movie. The basics of the story are the same so you don't get the same jolt when certain things happen, but on the other hand, Caine's character is completely different then Olivier's. How it is different would spoil the movie for you. All I can say is that both Caine and Law did good jobs playing off of each other, and the movie would probably have rated a little higher for me if I had not seen the original, but once the cat is let out of the bag you can probably bet it isn't going to go near another bag for a long time. (I hope that made sense to you because it sure didn't to me.)

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