sleuth(2007)

Plot:On his sprawling country estate, an aging writer matches wits with the struggling actor who has stolen his wife's heart.

One look from the start and you know that people are trying to "update" this all-time classic. The electronic gadgets and ultra-modern set design would almost make you believe that you are watching a Sci-fi. I don't find it objectionable. After all, it's just style. The substances seems to be there, at least initially, as we see Act 1 unfold, lean and compact, with Caine now playing Olivier's role of super-rich mystery writer Andrew Wyke. The character is somewhat updated also, as Caine skillfully plays out the explosive emotion of a cuckolded husband. Explosive emotion however does not always equate with fine drama. Personally, I would prefer Olivier's stiff-upper-lip portrayal, where a sarcastic, icy sneer digs deeper, into another level of his detestation.
Jude Law is a bit of a pleasant surprise in Act 2, in his performance as Scotland Yard Inspector Doppler. Playing Caine's original role of wife-stealer Milo Tindle, he is adequate.But as Tindle's alter ego coming for revenge, he shines. Physically, he is in fact more recognizable than Caine, but his superb acting does the trick.
But things start to fall apart after he has revealed his identity. What has been missing becomes more and more noticeable, eventually becoming a gaping hole – the remake lacks a soul.
In the original, after Tindle reveals his identity and claims that he has only scored three-love after Wake's six-love first set, the beauty is in how he evens the score. In the original, he accomplishes this by a convoluted plot culminating in making Wyke run around his own house madly to solve three riddles that will allow him to remove incriminating evidence before the police arrive.
In its place is a totally contrived sequence suggesting homosexual possibilities which is neither clever nor amusing.
6/10