Stars:
** 1/2
Rating: R for language
and violence
Run
Time: 1 hour,
28 minutes
Director
Kenneth Branagh returns to the big screen with an artsy remake of the 1972 cat-and-mouse
thriller based on Anthony Shaffer’s spare playlette.
A thriller
just shy of actual thrills. A sexy young hairdresser (Jude Law as Milo Tindle)
appears at the fabulous digs of a successful novelist (Michael Caine as Andrew
Wyke) to discuss the terms of a divorce. Seems pretty boy is shacking up with
Wyke’s ex and she wants to get on with her life.
Unbeknownst to
Milo Wyke has an agenda, an intricate plan to thwart his wife’s desires and
that of her current boy toy. The brass tacks are down and dirty as Wyke pitches
Branagh
utilizes his best smoke-and-mirrors technique to establish some tension in the
chilly, post-modern museum Wyke calls home.
The two Brits clearly enjoy their verbal sparring and arch
repartee, particularly Caine who played the ardent middle-class lover (against
Laurence Olivier’s Wyke) in the original.
The
juxtaposition of stark reality and stagy suspension of belief is an awkward
fit, never quite locating a consistent flow. The claustrophobic theater is
sharp and smart in Acts I and III, but the energy drops like a stone in Act II
when the local constable gets in on the act.
Ultimately
it’s a semi-satisfying game, set and match for one of our lucky blokes. Revenge
is a dish best served cold.