Product: SLEUTH - (Russian Import - PAL DVD) (1972)
Rating: 5.0
Yet another classic film in need of tender loving care
Well, wouldn't you know it? I finally get around to changing over to DVD from my VHS library, and sure enough I find one classic film after another short-shrifted in one way or another by the suits.Where to begin.This film is so good in all possible ways it hardly admits expression. Michael Caine, who does have a modicum of talent, but nothing more, actually doesn't come off too bad alongside the master, none other than Laurence Olivier himself, and pretty much at his best at that given the screenplay par excellence by Anthony Shaffer wedded to the inspired direction of Joseph Manckiewicz, working on what turned out to be his last film. I wouldn't know how to fault this collective effort. Even the musical score by John Addison is topnotch. All in all, the film never misses a beat--not one single beat.Of course, it won't be for everyone. For instance, the viewer is expected to pay close attention throughout. This is not a film for potty breaks and popcorn runs. Also, there are no car crashes with accompanying LFE and all that, or new-age music to hum along to. And the more educated the viewer then the more the movie's riveting humor and dialog must tellingly strike home.I don't know what else to say. Without a doubt it's Caine's best performance (in my judgment his next best would be his screen debut in Zulu), and for my money Olivier, who had more talent in his little finger than most so-called movie stars even dream of, never seemed more at ease with a role.As for the plot: this movie is all about its plot, which is so tightly and expertly interwoven that to mention much at all would be to give something important away, and what would be the fun in that? So I think it's best for anyone who has not yet seen this picture to snare a copy somehow (it appears to be long out of print--maybe one day someone in corporate will throw us a bone and restore and present this film properly--yeah, I know, I'm dreaming), take the phone off the hook, and sit down for a scintillating session of rare and accomplished entertainment.