Opening

78% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
36% The Hangover Part III May 23
100% Epic May 24
95% Before Midnight May 24
67% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
83% Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

86% Star Trek Into Darkness $70.2M
78% Iron Man 3 $35.8M
49% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
56% Oblivion $2.3M
98% Mud $2.2M
37% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
88% The East May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31

Sleuth (2007)

tomatometer

36

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 119
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 76

Sleuth is so obvious and coarse, rather than suspenseful and action-packed, that it does nothing to improve on the original version

29

Average Rating: 4.9/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 24

Sleuth is so obvious and coarse, rather than suspenseful and action-packed, that it does nothing to improve on the original version

audience

52

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 20,591

My Rating

Movie Info

The Anthony Shaffer play originally brought to the screen in 1972 gets the remake treatment in this updating that finds Michael Caine stepping into the role of the brilliant thriller writer portrayed by Laurence Olivier in the original, and Jude Law following in Caine's footsteps as the young hairdresser who steals the literary giant's wife, only to find himself subsequently swallowed up in an elaborate revenge scheme. Kenneth Branagh directs a script adapted from Shaffer's original play by

R,

Mystery & Suspense

Harold Pinter

Mar 11, 2008

$0.2M

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Cast

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All Critics (126) | Top Critics (35) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (79) | DVD (12)

Director Kenneth Branagh has mercifully pared the action down to 88 minutes (the first movie dragged on for 138), but the final act... still seems to go on forever.

December 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Kenneth Branagh's direction, its self-consciously skewed angles and surveillance-cam cutaways highlighting his weakness for the misplaced flourish, is more of a hindrance than a help.

November 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Director Kenneth Branagh clearly is having fun navigating Tim Harvey's slick set design, but eventually the characters' deadly competitiveness becomes tedious.

November 16, 2007
Film.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It doesnt work, and the reasons why are no mystery, no mystery at all.

November 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
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This film wants only to entertain, and other talents have gathered with Pinter to help.

November 7, 2007 Full Review Source: The New Republic
The New Republic
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It sounds so promising. It plays so disappointing.

November 2, 2007 Full Review Source: Detroit News
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It requires a light touch; I admire Branagh a great deal, but not for his light touch.

August 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central
Film Freak Central

Idly plotted then tempered by a blunt ending. All of a sudden the viewer is left pondering 'eh?' as Pinter apparently run out of room on his pad.

June 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Clothes on Film | Comment (1)
Clothes on Film

Pinter's pauses, and the dour air of so much of the interplay, just don't fit on a story that's this slight.

May 1, 2008 Full Review Source: MSNBC

Once the homosexual subtext is brought to the surface, everything seems to be a joke. Are they gay, kidding, or just considering?

April 10, 2008 Full Review Source: PopMatters
PopMatters

... the film comes off as little more than a contrivance for the theatrical spectacle of two actors duking it out, and [Jude] Law is simply outmatched.

March 20, 2008 Full Review Source: MSN.com
MSN.com

Fans of the original should stay away.

March 19, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia)
At the Movies (Australia)

Put two gifted actors from two different generations in a two-character film, and it's like watching two bull elks battle for the herd.

March 16, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Sleuth is a rare film where violence is a welcome relief, concluding the madness that puts the audience out of its misery as the credits thankfully roll.

March 14, 2008 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze
NewsBlaze

The script includes a verbal motif that reminds us of what binds the film's four central talents together: 'I want to show you something.' [Blu-Ray review]

March 10, 2008
Groucho Reviews

What this Sleuth lacks in enthusiasm it makes up in character-driven menace.

March 4, 2008 Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com
DVDTalk.com

Despite Branagh's every attempt to capitalise on the intimacy of the cinematic medium with (intrusive) close-ups, the direction is heavy handed; the result being a dramatic, but emotionally cold experience

March 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile
Urban Cinefile

Goofy art house tendencies (including an ill-thought dalliance with homo-eroticism) trigger a few giggles, yet the clever, crisply-acted power struggle seizes your attention

February 22, 2008 Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly
I.E. Weekly

Audience Reviews for Sleuth

A riveting and dazzling film. A masterful, intelligent and tremendously tense cat and mouse thriller. It`s a hypnotic, stylish and superbly acted masterpiece. An intense, frequently witty and shattering screenplay by Harold Pinter. Director, Kenneth Branagh creates a solid and electrifying masterwork. It keeps you on the edge of your seat no problem all the way to the end. Michael Caine and Jude Law are an outstanding tour de force. They give amazing performances, showing different and great styles of their acting and in their character development. Some truly brilliant and unforgettable acting from Law and Caine. Wonderful work from two great actors of two different generations and a great writer and director. It`s a knockout that's just as frightening as it is entertaining.
January 14, 2008
allan913

Super Reviewer

Here's a film to divide audiences - Michael Caine and Jude Law in a dialogue fuelled film Directed by Keneth Branagh.

A mind game about control, one upmanship, love, money and lonliness. A low budget flick that holds your attention throughout and you will certainly have a love it or hate it feeling come the end.
December 4, 2007
76Majikat

Super Reviewer

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