This is the type of film I really like: twisted tales of mystery and deceit featuring great actors who like to slice the ham thick. I wanted to like SLEUTH. No, I wanted to love SLEUTH. Laurence Olivier and Michael Caine, squaring off in a murderous battle of wits: What's not to love?<br /><br />SPOILERS.....<br /><br />But, I was very disappointed the first time I saw SLEUTH, and subsequently have seen it four or five more times to no avail. The film is clumsy and hokey and as smart as it thinks it is, it is really pretty dumb.<br /><br />To succeed the story relies on characters who are alternately brilliantly diabolical and just plain dumb. For a film of this sort to work, the audience can't be in on the scam. We have to believe the film is going one way, when it is actually going another. Sleight of hand, as it were. Any storyteller can make one character fool another; it takes skill for someone to honestly fool his audience.<br /><br />I even know exactly when the film started going astray. When one character suggests that another disguise himself as a burglar by dressing up as a circus clown. That's dumb. Worse, is when the other character does so. That's just plain stupid. <br /><br />It becomes apparent that the robbery scheme being discussed is bogus. One character is lying to the other, and we know it -- and we know he should know it as well. We see through the gambits, the disguises and the lies, but the characters who are supposed to be smarter than us, don't. Worse, the film keeps announcing that it is being clever and pulling scams. See how smart I am! See what a fool you are for being fooled! Now shut up while I fool you some more. SLEUTH is too obvious; it wears its cleverness like a neon sign.<br /><br />And it is a small point, but what was with director Joseph Mankiewicz's repeated cutaway shots to laughing clowns and smiling puppets? Once or twice it is stylish; but repeatedly it seem like a desperate attempt to jazz up the story or, worse, an attempt to cover up sloppy editing. Whatever, it was a constant annoyance. <br /><br />This film has a companion piece called DEATHTRAP. They have similar themes and gimmicky plots and both star Michael Caine. DEATHTRAP is considered the poor cousin of SLEUTH. I disagree; DEATHTRAP may lack the over-the-top theatrics of SLEUTH (which, in itself, is not a bad thing) but it is more than just clever, it is tight, sly and truly surprising. Everything SLEUTH isn't.