Sleuth

Marvellous two hander starring Michael Caine and the great Sir Laurence Olivier.

If there's one thing that Sleuth shows you is possible, it's that movies don't need dozens of special effects or huge budgets. Just two great stars and a fantastic script. Of course it helps that Sleuth was adapted from a stage play but it loses nothing in the translation from stage to screen and remains a feast of one liners and hammy acting.

The plot concerns Michael Caine's character Milo Tindle visiting the stately home of Andrew Wyke (Olivier) a very wealthy man obsessed with games and puzzles. Wyke is aware that Tindle is having an affair with his wife and so sets in motion a sequence of doublecrossing games and splendid twists and turns.

Nearly all of the action takes place within a handful of rooms in the mansion. What keeps you watching are the searing performances by the two leads. Olivier may be one of (if not the) greatest actors to have ever lived and yet here is Caine matching him all the way.

To pick out favourite moments would be to give away some of the many twists in the plot, suffice to say this plot has more ingenuity than a dozen modern day Hollywood blockbusters. If you can find it (and its been stupidly deleted over here in the UK) then grab on to it, it's sure to become one of your favourites.

See also: The Game