Sleuth

In a classic cat and mouse, two men meet for the first time. Milo (Jude Law) is having an open affair with his host's wife, Maggie. Andrew (Michael Caine), her husband, has invited Milo to his home in order to engage him in a psychological game designed to make him give up his wife, or else. This was the first time I'd seen this film, and I must say the initial striking thing about the film is the mise en scene. And the mise en scene is the arrangement of scenery and stage properties. Also, the way that the angles are set. The whole presentation feels strikingly voyeuristic, as if we're a fly on the wall or if were simply one of the house's security cameras. And because it's a story based on a play, some angles feel like we're sitting in the second-level mezzanine. The editing affords every angle of the theater, equalizing the audience in a very cheeky manner. The performance strength between Michael Caine and Jude Law makes the necessity of any further performers really quite unnecessary. Their fluctuation between humor and menace and desperation. And the fact that the casting has been done with two very dry actors adds a balance between them. The two performances heighten the tension of the piece. The tension continues in the interview with the detective character Law's Milo portrays was perfectly wonderful, I thought, as Caine's character thinks at the time, that he's a new character. Fantastic performance!!! An interesting tennis match, musically robust. Like a dance, a tango, in fact. The tension builds as each side fights to take control of the game with everything, mentally and physically, that they've brought to the table. It's a brilliant thing to write for two characters alone. The only problem with that is, in a story about a contest, there's only one winner and there is no way for the story to go. It's like a T-Maze where a mouse is sent down the corridor toward one choice: to the right or the left, and only so. Or so, it seems. The mouse can go back, too, or stay put. In our case, this story chose the typical route: right or left. And the ending turned out a bit predictable, in the end, after reflection. And I'm reminded, as a result, of the opening teaser to the seventh installment of the Saw series where the opening trap involves two men fighting to the death over a woman, whose life is also on the line. They are offered a choice, kill the other man or agree to leave the woman to her fate. They choose, in the end, that this woman's played them, and they each walk away. How interesting it would have been if this one chose that, too, because it could have thrown us all of a loop and allowed both to win the game. But, the ending's execution did throw me for a bit, still well done. Overall, Sleuth is an interesting study in tension, both in chemistry and in writing. I'm inspired to see the play it comes from, if I get the chance. Also, it's a fantastic study in cinematography in the way that the camera shoots and captures the entire event. Job well done, all around!! *** IN: Jude Law OUT: Michael Caine Coming Soon: Batman: A Study in Four Parts