Sleuth is about playing games on one another- sinister, bizarre, but ruthlessly witty and almost charming games- and it's maybe more-so about the depths to which masculinity may be displayed in the most conniving but mannered manners. The premise is simple, sort of: Milo (Caine) is invited by Andrew (Olivier) to his sprawling estate, and the detective-fiction writer questions Milo about having an affair/planning to marry his wife. But there's a twist: Milo will steal his wife's jewels, sell them, and both reap the rewards via insurance payoff for Andrew and clean get away for Milo. At least, this is what is first thought of, crazily enough. This is just the beginning of a back-and-forth display of gamesmanship by two evenly matched men who can't leave un-humiliated for long.
Schaffer's play, and subsequent screenplay, play on the idea of these two generations of men- Andrew's refined, regal, seemingly upstanding if definitely eccentric old-timer, and Milo's new-wave, half-immigrant youngun- coming together over a battle of wills in the guise of mind-f***ing. What's even cleverer, and which the director Mankiewicz (his final great feature) latches onto, is the mood of the setting, the various figures and puppets and animatronics like some kind of creepy 1950s Disneyland attraction, and how they almost work into the thick of things as their 'audience', cutting back to them every minute or so. And every line of dialog, every little nuance and trifle and rise and fall of the game at hand, is brilliantly charged for actors to latch onto and make it their own times 100.
And it goes without saying one can't get better, if you want pure gold movie performance from Britain, via Olivier and Caine. If anything, though some might disagree, Caine may possibly win out as giving the better overall performance (which is saying something), but this doesn't mean Olivier is off his game; on the contrary he relishes Andrew in the first half- when he's dealing the wicked game at Milo- and the second when the tables are turned. If you're idea of two character playing psychological and plot-driven cat-and-mouse isn't your idea of a good time, don't go near it. But if you're looking for something that's pure black comedy done with a delight that few films can muster, and even leans towards the lighthearted here and there, this is your movie. It also features the a truly creepy closing.
Schaffer's play, and subsequent screenplay, play on the idea of these two generations of men- Andrew's refined, regal, seemingly upstanding if definitely eccentric old-timer, and Milo's new-wave, half-immigrant youngun- coming together over a battle of wills in the guise of mind-f***ing. What's even cleverer, and which the director Mankiewicz (his final great feature) latches onto, is the mood of the setting, the various figures and puppets and animatronics like some kind of creepy 1950s Disneyland attraction, and how they almost work into the thick of things as their 'audience', cutting back to them every minute or so. And every line of dialog, every little nuance and trifle and rise and fall of the game at hand, is brilliantly charged for actors to latch onto and make it their own times 100.
And it goes without saying one can't get better, if you want pure gold movie performance from Britain, via Olivier and Caine. If anything, though some might disagree, Caine may possibly win out as giving the better overall performance (which is saying something), but this doesn't mean Olivier is off his game; on the contrary he relishes Andrew in the first half- when he's dealing the wicked game at Milo- and the second when the tables are turned. If you're idea of two character playing psychological and plot-driven cat-and-mouse isn't your idea of a good time, don't go near it. But if you're looking for something that's pure black comedy done with a delight that few films can muster, and even leans towards the lighthearted here and there, this is your movie. It also features the a truly creepy closing.