Is Anybody There? [2008] (English) - a bitter-sweet tale of an old man and a boy

"Is anybody there?" Sounds like an innocent question, doesn't it? A little boy - hardly more than 10 years old - is obsessed with it. What happens after death? Do we turn into ghosts? Is there life after death? Do we just switch off after death or do we linger behind? Is it just emptiness we leave behind? Or is there anybody there? A truly morbid topic for so little a boy to be obsessed with. While the movie does not really delve too deeply into the roots of the kid's obsession for life after death, it does spin a pretty entertaining yarn about life before death...

The boy in question is Edward, the only son of a couple who run an old people's home. A caring and dedicated mother who is too busy caring for the old and making ends meet, a jobless father caught in a desperate middle-age crisis, and a home full of old grumpy people. Not the best of the environments for a young fellow to spend his growing years in. And obviously Edwards resents the fact. The only consolation is that he has a house full of ideal subjects for his experimentation. All he has to do is wait for one of the oldies to drop dead... With a home that's not a normal home for a 10-year old, and a hobby that's not a normal hobby for that age, Edward hardly has many friends... With resentment growing as fast as his obsession, he is usually quite grumpy and full of mischief...

Then one day the old age home has a new recruit. An old fellow who is as grumpy, if not more, as Edward. His name's Clarence. A fellow with a bitter past and a dreary future... A self-respecting guy who resents his having to rely on anyone else. At first the grumpy, reclusive Clarence fascinates Edward. No wonder. In his heyday, Clarence used to be a magician. But no more. Now he is just an old man, with a past full of bad choices and a future that's destined to go straight downhill...

An uneasy bond starts forming between the afterlife-obsessed Edward and the resentful bitter magician Clarence... Old-age despair and resentment collide with the hope of youth, giving birth to an unlikely friendship... A friendship that transcends age and generation barrier... A friendship that would change both their lives...

The movie captures some of the most basic and raw human emotions so effortlessly with such tenderness and empathy that one is left marveling at the skilled direction, the perfect script and such superb acting by everyone involved. But it hardly gives one an opportunity to mull on such nitty-gritties... The story sweeps up the viewers and plunges them into the lives of Edward, Clarence, Edward's parents and the quirky denizens of their little old-age home...

For a story that tackles really serious human emotions like despair, bitterness and fear of death, it manages to entertain pretty effectively. Its full of humorous and tender moments. Edward's innocent antics are captured so effectively. It also unflinchingly depicts the helplessness that old age thrusts upon a self-respecting and self-reliant person... And the bitterness of our past choices that haunt us as we grow older - the ghosts of our past following us like an ever-present shadow... It shows us the trials and tribulations of growing old with empathy and understanding. And it paints so well the downward spiral that a marriage can take when not everything is working out fine and either of the partners realize that they have crossed their prime years and have nothing to look forward to but old age and despair that they already see around them everyday.

Not many movies manage to entertain while tackling serious human emotions. But this gem of a movie succeeds in doing this with flying colours. It will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It gets a bit serious near the two-third mark, but never once loses its pace. It manages to keep it all realistic and finally it wraps up the climax with a happy ending, leaving the viewer with a nice feel-good glow as the end credits roll out.

The direction is superb. So is the cinematography. All actors have played their parts very well. Michael Caine of course plays the part of the Magnificent Clarence to perfection. I also liked the acting of Bill Milner who played the part of Edward and Anne-Marie Duff who played the part of his mother, very much...

Its one of those few rare movies that one can watch again and again without getting bored by it. I enjoyed it a lot. And hope you do too...

My Rating: 3.5

The Intouchables [2011] (French): A Friendship can define your life

The movie begins with a black guy is driving a car. Besides him sits a white guy. As they wait at a traffic signal, the Black guy suddenly breaks the lane and speeds off almost breaking the signal. The powerful engines whine as the car - a cool Maserati - picks up speed. The two men look at each other and smile. The car veers this way and that dodging other cars at breakneck speed as it hurtles away through the night on the streets of Paris. Of course, they are soon being chased by the traffic police. The black driver challenges the white guy that he can loose the police in no time. He almost makes it. But then the police finally cut him off. They make him come out of the car, but before they can apprehend him, he claims that the reason for him to drive so fast was because he was taking the white guy to Hospital. He is a quadriplegic and is having a stroke. The white guy for his part pretends that he is spasming... The police quickly release him and escort them to the Hospital, as the two friends share a hearty laugh at their expense.

Flash back to an interview. Candidates are sitting in a line. All immaculately dressed in formals. All except one. A black guy dressed in jeans, T-Shirt, jacket and sports shoes. He is Driss, the driver mentioned above - a poor unemployed young fellow. The interview is being conducted for hiring a caretaker for Philippe (the white guy in the above mentioned scene) - a rich white quadriplegic widower. Driss is not looking for employment. He is just looking for a signature claiming that he tried for a job but failed, thus making him eligible for government benefit. And he makes no effort to hide the fact. To his surprise and chagrin, Driss is offered the job... He has no choice but to accept. For he has been recently asked to leave home by his angry mother. 

How did Driss survive the job taking care of the often moody Philippe? How did Philippe put up with this cocky unorthodox fellow who had no reservations to speaking out his mind? How did these two men from such diverse background become friends?

This is the story of Intouchables, a movie that became the second biggest box office hit in France. Its a comedy-drama based on a true story. A story of a rich quadriplegic who learns to hope, to enjoy to live life from his cocky, unorthodox, but full-of-life caretaker. And above all, gains a life long friend who will change his life forever.

The story is well-edited. The movie never looses pace. The script is well-crafted. The dialogue flows smoothly, never appearing awkward or contrived (at least the English subtitles didn't). The visuals as well as the dialogue manage to convey the story gracefully. The witty sparring between Philippe and Driss adds the spice to it all.

The best part of the movie is the acting. Both the lead actors - François Cluzet playing Philippe and Omar Sy portraying Driss, have acted extremely well. Especially François Cluzet - for it is no easy task to act as a quadriplegic. His acting skills are evident in his ability to convey emotions with his face alone - especially his eyes. The other actors have acted well too.

Some critics (excepts the french of course) were not very impressed by this movie, questioning what the fuss was all about? In a way I agree with them. For though it is based on a true story, some parts of it do feel contrived, which may be a let down for some who might expect more realism from it. And yet, therein lies its charm. It entertains with its lighthearted comedy. The quips that often flow between Philippe and Driss makes one laugh out loud. (This one reminds me of a similar movie "The Bucket List" - another favourite of mine). We are allowed a peek into the lives, the pains, the happy and sad memories of these two men from vastly different backgrounds. Its a feel good movie that manages to spread a happy glow as you watch and cheer the victory of life over disability and hope over despair. But above all it celebrates Friendship - a friendship that knows no bounds, that transcends beyond the boundaries of race, class or physical disability...

Mostly funny, but at times tender and serious, its a good movie that I am sure to watch and enjoy many more times.

My Ratings: 3

The International [2009] (English): The difference between truth and fiction - fiction has to make sense

"This is the very essence of the banking industry... to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals... slaves to debt."

Words of wisdom. Uttered by a man in high places, a man who has inside knowledge of the machinations of big financial institutions... Soon after uttering these words, the man, an Italian presidential candidate dies. He is assassinated in broad daylight, in front of hundreds of people, while giving a speech.

He is not the first casualty in the movie The International. And he won't be the last...

The first casualty takes places five minutes into the movie - right in front of the eyes of the lead protagonist. And the movie never looses its grip from that point on...

The lead protagonist mentioned above is one Louis Salinger, an Interpol agent, who is assisting Eleanor Whitman, an Assistant District Attorney from Manhattan, in investigating money laundering and malpractice done by the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC). But they lose their lead witness, and the death toll rises, and soon they realize that they are up against a very formidable foe. A big international corporation with access to virtually unlimited funds wields power enough to twist any evidence, make witnesses disappear and "buy" friends at the highest places. As they try to uncover more and more evidence, their investigation keeps hitting inaccessible walls. Will they succeed in pinning down the corrupt bank and its unscrupulous officials?

The well-edited story moves at a break-neck pace. The action and the chase sequences are very well-executed. Kudos to the director and the photography crew for depicting some pretty cool action scenes. Instead of the shaky blurred camerawork used to depict intense action, they employ well placed cameras and aerial views to depict much of the actions scenes, making them look quite elegant. The shootout scene that takes place within the Guggenheim museum, (though preposterous) is especially breath-taking. (It is claimed that they built a life-size replica of the actual museum for this.) The film does not flinch from showing blood and violence wherever necessary. The story threatens to take a decidedly vigilante turn at the end, but fortunately wraps up well. The climax is unexpected but realistic, though its a bit of a letdown after the pretty impressive built-up of the entire story...

The basic premise of the story may sound a bit preposterous, but the related Wikipedia article claims that "the film draws on a number of macabre incidents from international banking". It successfully depicts the ugly underbelly of the big financial corporations and how they manipulate governments, facts and situations to suit their own needs.

Some of the dialogues are quite well-scripted. One of my most favourites is this one: "We cannot control the things Life does to us. They are done before you know it, and once they are done... they make you do other things... until at last, everything comes between you... and the man you wanted to be."

Clive Owen plays the disillusioned, disgruntled protagonist quite well - especially with his impassive face, vacant eyes and his almost perpetual part-confused, part-contemptuous expression (Though his acting is not really that good, such roles do suit him quite well I think). Others have acted okay too. Most of the characters a shallow and two-dimensional, but they suit the story well. Any attempt to sketch the characters further would have made this essentially action flick cumbersome and slow. But there is one character I found most interesting - that of an antagonist - a former stasi colonel named Wexler, who has been depicted pretty nicely, and well-performed by the German actor Armin Mueller-Stahl.

There are some negative reviews for this movie, some of which claim that it "is undone by its preposterous plot"... I find that statement preposterous. For the film's plot is certainly less preposterous than so many other commercial action movies out there that receive such great accolades from the reviewers... And I do agree, that to a certain extent, certain aspects of the plot are a bit preposterous. (For instance the sequence where Whitman slips Salinger out of police custody undetected is utterly naive) Yet, the real value of this movie lies in its attempt to convey the idea that it is not the politicians, the world leaders, the governments and armies that move the world. It is the big financial corporations, working silently at the backstage, that unscrupulously manipulate the world we live in - for their own benefit... This does sound a bit farfetched and paranoid. But then, it is after all merely a work of fiction, isn't it?...

There is one more dialogue in the movie which I liked a lot: "This is the difference between truth and fiction... Fiction has to make sense."... Hmm, I wonder...

My Ratings: 3

Elysium [2013] (English): "This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."

In the late 21st century Earth was diseased, polluted, and vastly over-populated.

(The camera shows over-crowded, garbage-riddled, crumbling dirty cities with smoke-filled skylines)

Earth's wealthiest residents fled the planet to preserve their way of life.

(This is where the camera pans out moving away from Earth and focusing over a massive ring shaped structure orbiting the planet Earth... This is...) 

ELYSIUM...

(Supported by a star shaped spike structure that extends from a central core to the the massive ring. The inside of the massive ring made up of huge curving landscapes consisting of beautiful grassy lawns, huge white houses and sparkling water bodies. A virtual paradise compared to the hell that earth has become...)

So starts Elysium. An artificial space habitat built by the "have"s, to keep away the "have-not"s and still enjoy the best that money and technology can offer. Sterile air, open beautiful spaces, Robot servants and Medical technology that can "re-atomize" your body to heal any and every disease or injury within minutes...

And there is the Earth. The abode of the "have-not"s. Congested, over-populated, polluted. Tightly controlled by robot police, and many of the population serving the companies that enrich the "have"s who are the Elysium citizens, even the basic necessities like medical care are hard to come by. The squalor and the living conditions are clearly apparent in the garbage-riddled landscape, the crumbling buildings where people live, the over-crowded hospitals and public places...

One such have-not is Max. As a kid he has always dreamed of buying a ticket to the beautiful and fabled paradise of Elysium. Once involved in criminal activities during his early youth, now he works hard as an assembly worker in Armadyne Corp, an armaments company that provides not only the weaponry for Elysium and the police force on earth, but also designed the controlling system of Elysium itself. One day he meets with an accident while at work. Exposed to lethal dose of radiation, he has mere five days to live. And all the company gives him as compensation is a vial of capsules that would make his final days painless, and relieves him of work.

The only thing that can save him is a Med-bay - a near magical technological marvel that can re-atomize your body cells and cure any disease within minutes. The only med-bays available are on Elysium. So he approaches a smuggler named Spider, for whom he has worked before, hoping to get himself smuggled into Elysium. But Spider asks him to perform a last job for him. A job so daring and dangerous, that no person in his right mind would take it up. But Max would. He is going to die anyway. What has he got to loose? They plan to steal secret information off a high-profile Elysium citizen, and use it to buy their way into Elysium. But they land up obtaining information that's so confidential that soon they are being man-hunted for it...

The movie succeeds pretty nicely as an action flick. Though it starts off slow, it soon picks up pace and hardly ever slackens thereafter. Some slow motion action shots are quite breathtaking. Though it is not your run of the mill action flick that starts off with a bang and involves superheroes and over-the-top action sequences, it does offer some nice sci-fi action eye-candy - some pretty cool futuristic armaments, fighter droids, and some very good action sequences.

Most of the actors have acted pretty well. Which was to be expected considering that the star-cast boasts such brilliant actors like Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga and William Fichtner.

But I liked this movie more for its concept. There are few sci-fi movies that succeed to present ideas that are possible in the foreseeable future. To make you realize with horror and trepidation that - "OMG, this may happen; it may really happen in a few years"... (One such movie I had seen before is Repo Men [2010] - another dystopian sci-fi action flick). Elysium is one such movie. If you look beyond the action and the sci-fi entertainment it offers, you may realize that what has been portrayed in the movie may very-well happen in the near future. The way our population is growing exponentially, and the economic divide between the haves and the have-nots widening every day, the day is not far when we might be thrust into just such an exploitative dystopian social structure... Maybe we already are living in such an exploitative economic system - economic slaves enriching the already rich "haves". The over-population will simply make it worse in the the near-future... 

The writer and director Neill Blomkamp says that it is a comment on the contemporary human condition. "Everybody wants to ask me lately about my predictions for the future," he says, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now."... In a way, he is right...

My Ratings: 3.5

A Civil Action [1998] (English): An eyeopening Courtroom Drama

Through the huge bustling corridors of what appears to be a government building, a lawyer is pushing a wheelchair. On the wheelchair is seated a young white man. As they enter what appears to be a courtroom, a voice-over comments:

"It's like this. A dead plaintiff is rarely worth as much as a living, severely maimed plaintiff.However, if it's a long, agonizing death, as opposed to a quick drowning or car wreck, the value can rise considerably.A dead adult in his 20s is generally worth less than one who is middle-aged, a dead woman less than a dead man, a single adult less than one who's married, black less than white, poor less than rich.But the perfect victim is a white  male  professional, 40 years old, at the height of his earning power, struck down in his prime.And the most imperfect?Well, in the calculus of personal injury law, a dead child is worth the least of all."

This is how begins A Civil Action. These simple words - words that are ironic, yet sound truthful - words narrated by the lawyer himself - the lawyer who is the hero - or rather an anti-hero in the film - these words gripped me and sucked me into this wonderful movie...

For the past few months, I have been afflicted with a severe case of the Blogger's Block. Its not that I did not see any movies during that time. I saw quite a few of them. Some of them were quite good. Even worth writing about. But this is the movie that finally snapped me out of my block and compelled me to write again. 

A Civil Action. Starring John Travolta, Robert Duval and an assembly of other really good actors.

Its based on a book, which is based on a true story. Weird how some such movies based on real-life stories appeal to me some how (refer October Sky). Real life can be so boring and mundane and, well... realistic. Yup, the story is realistic. And yet it manages to make a very entertaining yarn. The script is really well-crafted, to entertain without losing the touch of reality. The dialogs are sometimes so razor-sharp, they cut through your heart, while at other times manage to tickle and make you laugh.

The direction is pretty good. The visuals complement the story very nicely, conveying the drama, the tragedy and the irony thats the part of this real-life story. And they are complemented pretty nicely by great acting from all the actors big and small.

The movie starts with the voice-over (mentioned above) of a Lawyer - Jan Schlichtmann. And what the voice-over has to say, is so eyeopening and has such a ring of truth to it, that I was hooked. The movie is peppered with such voice-overs by the character of Jan Schlichtmann (played by John Travolta), that reflect on the nature of the court, the trial, the law and the lawyers from the insider's point of view of a lawyer himself. They are a real treat - like coming across an occasional piece of frosted caramel in the butter-scotch ice-cream.

This is the story of the residents of the small town of Woburn, who have lost quite a few of their loved ones to Leukemia. And they suspect its the water they drink. Water that's being contaminated by the nearby companies dumping their waste into it. So they contact the firm of the lawyer Jan Schlichtmann. Jan is at first reluctant to take the case. But something, that has less to do with his empathy for the townfolk and more to do with his won greed, compels him to take on the case. And so begins a courtroom drama where a four partners small-time law firm is pitted against mega-corporations and big bullying law firms.

As mentioned earlier, the story avoids taking any flights of fancy. Expect no happy endings. Actually, the story does end happily in a very unexpected way. But not for everyone. It portrays the ugly side of the law and the lawyers, The shenanigans of the big corporates who don't give a damn about the environment or people dying due to their negligence, the tragedies of the people who have lost their dear ones, and the downfall of a lawyer when he stops being a lawyer and starts getting emotionally affected by the plight of his clients.

Overall, I enjoyed watching this film a lot, and would certainly not mind watching it again...

My Ratings: 3.5

The Last Days on Mars [2013] (English): A Sci-Fi Thriller with no new ideas, but clockwork-perfect execution

This is a movie about a manned mission's Last Days on Mars. So this makes it one of the few movies that says it all in the title itself.

Aurora Mission...
Duration: 6 months...
Remaining time: 19 hours... 

It is their last excursion out in the sands of the Red Planet. Kim, an ambitious and now disillusioned scientist, is busy collecting the last samples they would take back home. Samples, that she dejectedly observes, are as sterile and fruitless as the ones they have been collecting for the past 6 months... As she is driven back to base by the team 'chauffers' (would the term "Rover Driver" sound funny?) Campbell and Lane, another scientist, Marko, prepares to go out. He claims that he needs to check "a Gamma sensor that's not responding", something he confesses he forgot to check. As he heads out, Kim, his obvious rival, becomes suspicious. She checks his workstation. What she finds out implicates two things: one - Marko lied, and two - he may have stumbled upon a profound discovery... And then disaster strikes...

The story is strictly okay. On the sci-fi front, it does not explore any new ideas. On the action front, it does not add any unnecessary and unrealistic stunts. On the thriller-horror part, it delivers shocks and jolts with the pitch-perfect timing. The characters are neither too shallow, nor too detailed. Some of the characters are well-sketched enough to fit into the plot. <Spoiler> The idea that the very first discovered extra-terrestrial bacteria should turn humans into zombies, is quite preposterous, not to mention a bit difficult to digest... </Spoiler> 

The special effects are quite nice. The spaceship, the base and the rovers are depicted very nicely. Can't comment on the depiction of the Mars itself. Never been there, you know ;-P... But it looked too drab, like some desert on earth itself viewed through an orange red filter. Maybe the red planet is as arid and drab as depicted in the movie? Who knows? The sets and props of the insides of the rovers and the base are good enough enough. Some of the scenes shot through the dark, abandoned and wrecked corridors and rooms of the Base well shot enough to make one's hair stand on end.

Almost all the performances are good enough. Liev Schrieber, who plays the role of Vincent Campbell, steals the show. He fits the role of the reluctant protagonist like a glove on the hand - so much so that he almost defined the character by his performance. I also liked the performances of Olivia William (as Kim Aldrich, the scientist), Elias Koteas (as Brunel, the leader of the team) and Romola Garai (as Lane).

This is the second sci-fi movie of this year (2013), that I liked because it steers clear of unnecessary dramatics (the first one was Europa Report - which is a better movie than this one though). And therein lies its charm... It refrains from taking the well-trodden path of a typical action-packed horror-thriller in space. It keeps everything low-key. And yet manages to deliver thrills and jolts at exactly the right places and manages to maintain a steady pace. There is action, yes, but its pretty realistic. No extraordinary stunts. No super-human feats. And yet, it manages to entertain. In short the movie is very well executed and well directed.

In short, it is certainly worth a watch at least once.

My Rating: 2.5

V/H/S 2 [2013] (English): A tab bit better than its predecessor

After watching V/H/S, the first Horror Anthology in this series, I was a bit apprehensive about watching this one. Not only because such serial movies tend to become repetitive, losing the novelty of the first one. But also due to the fact that the first movie did not impress me so much. Yet, I decided to give this one a try. And I can't say I was disappointed. Not that this movie was very impressive or ground-breaking or anything. For it suffers from the same handicaps that the first movie did. But it also scores as good as the first one for exploring some original ideas.

Just like the first movie, this too is an anthology of horror short films, each one directed by a different director, and each one exploring an individual unrelated story. Each short film uses the now well-worn found-footage format. And one of the shorts is used as a frame narrative, which also acts as an individual story on its own.

The movie starts off with "Tape 49" directed by Simon Barrett. This one acts as a frame narrative, within which the other stories take place. It tells the story of a P.I. who has been commissioned by a college student's mother to investigate her son's disappearance. While searching through the abandoned and dark home of the college student, they stumble upon a series of VHS tapes. While the P.I. search the house, his colleague plays the tapes to get a clue as to the missing student's whereabouts. This frame narrative story is even more drab and mediocre than the frame narrative story of the first movie. It tries to explain how viewing the tapes can lead to disastrous circumstances (duh!). There are hardly any surprises and shocks. The story is uninspired. The direction appears awkward. On the whole, I personally did not like it very much.

The next story is "Phase I Clinical Trials" directed by Adam Wingard. There is one thing I really liked about the first movie. That is the use of various types of hidden cams, including a spy cam on eye-glasses. This movie takes a giant leap further in that regard. For example, in this story, the hidden camera is located within the eye-implant of the protagonist. Neat, huh!? A guy, who has nearly lost his vision of one of his eyes in an accident, is fitted with an artificial implant that will help him see again from his impaired eye. It is an experimental device and hence the company will be capturing the footage of whatever the man views through his eye and saving it for a few days, for testing purpose only. But guess what? The guy starts seeing people that aren't supposed to be there... The premise of the story is pretty interesting. Its jolts and shocks are effective enough. So is some of the explanation that comes forward in the form of a girl who comes to the protagonist's help. On the whole, this story was quite better as compared to the other stories in the lot...

The next one is "A Ride in the Park" directed by Eduardo Sánchez and Gregg Hale. It is a short story about horror that takes place inside some sort of national park. Its a zombie story (which is not surprising considering that the Z-word is the new magic buzz-word in Horror movies nowadays, isn't it?). There is one area in which this movie pushes the boundaries of the shaky camera genre even further - that area being, the placement of the camera. In this short story, the camera is located on the helmet of a cyclist who has turned into a zombie. Apart from this very novel idea and an excessive amount of blood, gore and disemboweled zombies, this short film doesn't have anything interesting.

The next one is "Safe Haven" directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Gareth Huw Evans. This one is Indonasian. It is also the longest story in the batch. And personally, I think it is the best one in the anthology. A news crew approaches the "father" of a reclusive religious cult. They are invited to interview him and visit the cult's abode. What they discover there makes a pretty interesting good old-fashioned traditional horror tale.

The last story is named "Slumber Party" directed by Jason Eisener. It is about a slumber party held by a bunch of kids at their home - an open property complete with a barn - near a big lake. There is sibling rivalry and fun and frolic. All is going well until they spot unusual lights on the lake. This one is the most uninteresting story of the lot. Except for one novel innovation. The hidden camera that captures most of the footage of the episode is mounted by one kid on the head of their pet dog!

This movie certainly scores points for pushing the frontiers of the shaky camera sub-genre beyond what its predecessor did. And it loses some points for a few script as well as directorial failures similar to ones evident in some of the stories from the first movie. It has a lot of unnecessary blood and gore and a couple of unnecessary sexually explicit scenes. But some of its stories are so good that they make it a worthwhile watch, at least once, if not more.

My Ratings: 2

Sleuth [1972] (English): Expect the unexpected

The movie starts with a young fellow approaching a stately manor-like home in the country-side. As he approaches the house, he hears a voice floating his way from the gardens. Assuming that the voice probably belongs to the owner of the house, he tries to find its source through the green foliage. But he is in for a surprise. For what looks like mere green foliage is actually a Garden maze. And the owner of the house is sitting right in the middle of it, narrating a story and recording it... The owner is Andrew Wyke, a middle-aged, wealthy and famous detective fiction writer. The young man is Milo Tindle, a self-made hair-dresser, who has been invited by Andrew Wyke for a little chat. Milo is also the guy having an affair with Andrew's wife. Andrew knows about this. And makes no effort to hide the fact. On the contrary, it is about the same topic that Andrew wishes to discuss with young Milo... But not all is as it seems...

This is how the movie starts... And one would never guess the many twists and turns it takes, navigating through plots and sub-plots, before this roller-coaster ride finishes off, leaving the audience dazed and enthralled.

As the name suggests this movie is a detective / mystery story. But don't be fooled by the name. You may not encounter a sleuth in the movie for at least the first half. And when a sleuth does appear on the scene, he is not your traditional arm-chair detective, but your regular police investigator.

The story is extremely well-crafted. Its quite a lengthy movie - 2 hours 18 minutes long. And there are at least two instances during this lengthy movie, that one might feel that now the story would end indeed. But it doesn't. In spite of it being so lengthy, it hardly ever looses pace or gets boring or tedious. It is like a nicely wound machine, ticking away like clockwork, precisely delivering surprise after surprise at regular intervals... There are instances where, if you stop to think, you are bound to find some holes in the plot. But seriously, if you let it catch you by the collar and drag you along with it, you will never really stop to think...

The wisecracking exchanges between Milo and Andrew during the first half of the movie are so witty and interesting, that the viewers are hooked within the first few minutes. It is surprising how the script manages to build the characters and convey so much through spoken dialogue alone. Sometimes the dialogue does appear a bit awkward, unnecessary or out-of-place, but the viewer is usually too engrossed in the movie to notice it.

The characters are quite well-sketched, not only of Milo and Andrew who are present in front of us, but also of certain other characters like Andrew's wife Marguerite, who never really appears in person, throughout the movie, and yet we get to know her quite well through the dialogues, thanks to the well-crafted script. Especially the characters of both Milo - an ambitious and self-made man, and Andrew - an egotistic, prejudiced, old-fashioned, pompous, sometimes immature rich guy are very well-portrayed.

The performance is brilliant. Both by Laurence Olivier who plays Andrew Wyke and by Michael Caine who plays the role of Milo Tindle. At first I thought Michael Caine's acting was a bit amateurish. But by the time the movie ends, we are presented with his formidable acting skills, which may seem to overshadow even the brilliant performance by Laurence Olivier himself.

Attention is given to the finest details in the movie. The sets and the props are very intricately designed - right from the portrayal of the garden maze, to the various games and "Automata" ("and they all work" as Andrew Wyke proudly says) peppered around Andrew Wyke's house. The detailed set of the house and various props in it serve well to define certain aspects of Andrew Wyke's character as a person who loves games-playing.

This is one brilliant gem of a movie that I am sure to enjoy watching many more times. For though the plot will lose its surprises and twists after the first viewing, the movie will never lose its entertainment value for me, thanks to the refreshing performances, the eye-candy of the detailed sets and the witty and entertaining dialogues that made it a memorable flick indeed...

My Ratings: 3.5