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Deathtrap (1982)
Sidney Lumet’s directorial versatility is legendary. But if you had to pin down a storytelling specialization, it might be characters straining to define and discover their moral codes. See 12 Angry Men, Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon and The Verdict, among others.
So by contrast, what a hoot for Lumet to dabble among characters with no discernible morality, playing dress-up in a genre known for its artifice. That’s the thriller comedy Deathtrap.
Playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) has just suffered yet another Broadway flop and faces a brandy-soaked early retirement in his Long Island home, adorned with the weapons from his more lucrative murder mystery productions. What should arrive in the mail? A perfect script authored by a former student (Christopher Reeve).
Upon reading, the murder-obsessed Sidney begins hatching a scheme to draw in his would-be protégé as either a partner or a victim (Mrs. Bruhl, played by Dyan Cannon, is unsure which).
Often, Lumet shoots his adaptation of Ira Levin’s play like a theater production, with characters gesticulating and monologuing across every corner of Sydney’s estate-slash-armory. But when the tension nears a breaking point—we can only take so much body disposal, trick handcuffs and possibly loaded revolvers—Lumet opts for bracing closeups that insist on palpable fear.
This visual language wrenches Deathtrap out of being a dainty meta-mystery, shining brightest when Reeve hisses with a malice that would make Superman wince. Meanwhile, Caine and Cannon undulate skillfully between playing believably desperate and navigating the kind of manic plot gizmos that presage Clue (1985) three years later. Hollywood, July 2.
ALSO PLAYING:
Cinema 21: Dr. Strangelove (1964), July 1. Cinemagic: King Kong (2005), June 29. Hollywood: Rear Window (1954), July 1-July 2. Aliens (1986), July 1-July 2. Super Fly (1972), July 3. TC 2000 (1993), July 3.