Jude Law as Milo Tindle in "Sleuth."

Directed by Kenneth Branagh from a script by Harold Pinter, based on the Anthony Shaffer play, "Sleuth" shares a title with the original 1972 film and the presence of Michael Caine, and that's about it.

Back then, Caine played young Milo Tindle, an English hairdresser of Italian descent who was having an affair with the wife of the successful and much older mystery writer Andrew Wyke, played by Laurence Olivier. This time, Caine takes the Olivier role, with Law stepping into Caine's shoes for the second time, following 2004's "Alfie."

These brash men battle over Andrew's wife with unpredictable, ultimately violent results in what is essentially a two-character play on film. Caine and Law go after each other, but it's easy to fall into the darkly comic, rapid-fire rhythm of their routine. Their characters know it's !a game, too -- that's part of the fun.

Andrew has invited Milo to his home and condescends to him from the moment they meet. ("You didn't expect me to be so intelligent, so quick-witted, did you?" he asks matter-of-factly over whiskey.) Andrew knows Milo is having an affair with his wife, and Milo knows that he knows. Both men are quite reasonable about this fact -- polite, even.

What's in dispute is what should happen next. Milo has come to ask Andrew to give her a divorce; Andrew uses his plea as an opportunity to toy with this ambitious young man's psyche, a tactic which grows aggressively destructive.

"Sleuth" maintains just the right amount of steadily building tension over a breathless hour- and-a-half, and that's probably just about right.

Christy Lemire / Associated Press