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Plot – Andrew Wyke, a wealthy writer of crime novels, invites Milo Tindle round to his house. Aware that Tindle is having an affair with his wife, Wyke initally seems to happily accept it and indeed has a plan that will benefit both of them. Everything sounds good. Except that Wyke has a little 'game' in mind for Tindle.
I had high hopes for this one. Going by the plot it sounded like it could a very entertaining, playful treat. While it was still quite enjoyable, it eventually came up as a bit of a disappointment.
My touchstone nowadays when it comes to thrillers is Alfred Hitchcock, and again this is a film I could easily picture him having been involved with. Indeed with the back and forth relationship between Wyke and Tindle, and the macabre nature of the 'games', it has quite a strong resemblance to Hitchcock's own Rope; a film I much preferred.
My main problem was that most of the story felt quite obvious and telegraphed to me. I was able to guess very early on about each twist and turn that was to come, which just left me waiting for the film to catch up. Not exactly what you want from a film that is trading on suspense and mystery. It was only in the last 20-30 minutes really that some doubt comes into proceedings that I moved from just fairly enjoying the film and started to get really hooked. Even then however there were a couple of plot holes that annoyed me and slightly ruined an otherwise satisfying ending. While there have been a number of realistic films in this season of 70s thrillers, and a few that resemble docu-dramas, this is very clearly a production. And a production that at times feels restricted by its stage roots.
Adapting his own play Anthony Shaffer produces an sharp script which just about lifts the film above its fairly ludicrous plot and developments. For example the way that Caine's character jumps back and forth so quickly from being suspicious of Wyke's plan, to being all for it doesn't feel that credible. And even when he agrees to go along with it, the fact that he would go so far in terms of the clown costume and ladder etc feels a bit farcical. And surely he would question why Wyke wouldn't arrange to be away from the house with an alibi to support that. That aside however the sharp dialogue and cutting one-liners are able to create a great battle of wits in this verbal sparring match. And while it is fairly ridiculous, the script also takes the time to look at the theme of class struggle as the upper class author with a rich English heritage clashes with the working class hairdresser of Italian descent, both men seeming to resent the other for their ancestry and supposed birthrights.
I have to admit up front to not really being a fan of Michael Caine. I've always found him a touch annoying, largely down to the accent. I think the fact it's also a voice that has been so often imitated and spoofed makes it difficult to buy into him in a way. I'm always half expecting him to stop midway through a film and announce “And now for my next impression...William Shatner!” So it's always going to be a struggle for him to stand out, and will mostly likely hurt the enjoyment of any film he stars in. However to be fair to him he does a fairly good job here for the most part, and has a very nice, easy chemistry with Olivier in their games of one-upmanship. Speaking of Olivier he seems to just be having a whale of a time as the always eccentric, sometimes menacing aristocrat with a great passion for playing games. As I've often found from him, while he is good it's in quite a hammy, sometimes camp style. He certainly seemed to subscribe to the sentiment of “go big or go home.” In this kind of film however it works extremely well, providing a great deal of the film's fun.
When the film works it is indeed good, devilish fun. However for me the film feels overlong, and could easily have been trimmed by a good 20/30 minutes. I just feel the energy saps out of the film at times during its first two acts. And I don't think the pacing is helped by the fact that the whole 138 minutes only features two characters throughout, and takes place solely in one location. Though on that facet a lot of credit is due. The sets are designed with such fantastic attention to detail and with so much stuff laden about that there is always something for the eye to focus on. There is such a large collection of toys, gadgets, trinkets, games etc in amongst the unusual and striking décor that we don't always notice just how claustrophobic it all is.
The set is also brought into use with the director using continuous quick cuts to shots of the automata that litter the mansion; from dolls to mannequins, from games to the incredibly creepy Jolly Jack Tar. For the most part it helps to create a quite eerie, unnerving tone before descending into just plain annoying and tedious through its overuse. In a fairly solidly directed effort I'd say this is Mankiewicz's one real failure.
Conclusion – A film that at times is really good fun as Caine and Olivier go at each other. However it's running time and obvious (for me at least) twists and turns mean that too often the action just lulls and falls short of being a very good/great movie.
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Year of release
1972
1972
Directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Written by
Anthony Shaffer
Anthony Shaffer
Starring
Laurence Olivier
Michael Caine
Laurence Olivier
Michael Caine
Sleuth
+
Plot – Andrew Wyke, a wealthy writer of crime novels, invites Milo Tindle round to his house. Aware that Tindle is having an affair with his wife, Wyke initally seems to happily accept it and indeed has a plan that will benefit both of them. Everything sounds good. Except that Wyke has a little 'game' in mind for Tindle.
I had high hopes for this one. Going by the plot it sounded like it could a very entertaining, playful treat. While it was still quite enjoyable, it eventually came up as a bit of a disappointment.
My touchstone nowadays when it comes to thrillers is Alfred Hitchcock, and again this is a film I could easily picture him having been involved with. Indeed with the back and forth relationship between Wyke and Tindle, and the macabre nature of the 'games', it has quite a strong resemblance to Hitchcock's own Rope; a film I much preferred.
My main problem was that most of the story felt quite obvious and telegraphed to me. I was able to guess very early on about each twist and turn that was to come, which just left me waiting for the film to catch up. Not exactly what you want from a film that is trading on suspense and mystery. It was only in the last 20-30 minutes really that some doubt comes into proceedings that I moved from just fairly enjoying the film and started to get really hooked. Even then however there were a couple of plot holes that annoyed me and slightly ruined an otherwise satisfying ending. While there have been a number of realistic films in this season of 70s thrillers, and a few that resemble docu-dramas, this is very clearly a production. And a production that at times feels restricted by its stage roots.
Adapting his own play Anthony Shaffer produces an sharp script which just about lifts the film above its fairly ludicrous plot and developments. For example the way that Caine's character jumps back and forth so quickly from being suspicious of Wyke's plan, to being all for it doesn't feel that credible. And even when he agrees to go along with it, the fact that he would go so far in terms of the clown costume and ladder etc feels a bit farcical. And surely he would question why Wyke wouldn't arrange to be away from the house with an alibi to support that. That aside however the sharp dialogue and cutting one-liners are able to create a great battle of wits in this verbal sparring match. And while it is fairly ridiculous, the script also takes the time to look at the theme of class struggle as the upper class author with a rich English heritage clashes with the working class hairdresser of Italian descent, both men seeming to resent the other for their ancestry and supposed birthrights.
I have to admit up front to not really being a fan of Michael Caine. I've always found him a touch annoying, largely down to the accent. I think the fact it's also a voice that has been so often imitated and spoofed makes it difficult to buy into him in a way. I'm always half expecting him to stop midway through a film and announce “And now for my next impression...William Shatner!” So it's always going to be a struggle for him to stand out, and will mostly likely hurt the enjoyment of any film he stars in. However to be fair to him he does a fairly good job here for the most part, and has a very nice, easy chemistry with Olivier in their games of one-upmanship. Speaking of Olivier he seems to just be having a whale of a time as the always eccentric, sometimes menacing aristocrat with a great passion for playing games. As I've often found from him, while he is good it's in quite a hammy, sometimes camp style. He certainly seemed to subscribe to the sentiment of “go big or go home.” In this kind of film however it works extremely well, providing a great deal of the film's fun.
When the film works it is indeed good, devilish fun. However for me the film feels overlong, and could easily have been trimmed by a good 20/30 minutes. I just feel the energy saps out of the film at times during its first two acts. And I don't think the pacing is helped by the fact that the whole 138 minutes only features two characters throughout, and takes place solely in one location. Though on that facet a lot of credit is due. The sets are designed with such fantastic attention to detail and with so much stuff laden about that there is always something for the eye to focus on. There is such a large collection of toys, gadgets, trinkets, games etc in amongst the unusual and striking décor that we don't always notice just how claustrophobic it all is.
The set is also brought into use with the director using continuous quick cuts to shots of the automata that litter the mansion; from dolls to mannequins, from games to the incredibly creepy Jolly Jack Tar. For the most part it helps to create a quite eerie, unnerving tone before descending into just plain annoying and tedious through its overuse. In a fairly solidly directed effort I'd say this is Mankiewicz's one real failure.
Conclusion – A film that at times is really good fun as Caine and Olivier go at each other. However it's running time and obvious (for me at least) twists and turns mean that too often the action just lulls and falls short of being a very good/great movie.