4 out of 5

Director: Sidney Lumet

While the extra layers to this wonderful play get a little gimicky toward the end, Sidney Lumet casts correctly and uses sets and shots perfectly to highlight the benefits of choosing to transplant things to film. “Deathtrap” is about playwright Sidney (Caine), who was once a name in showbiz but has since written several mystery-thriller flops. When a student from a seminar (Christopher Reeves, as Clifford) approaches Sidney with a seemingly perfect play, Sidney – much to the protest of his wife (Dyan Cannon) – plots to steal Clifford’s play, and deal with the lonerish Clifford in a dastardly way… Or that’s the surface, anyway. It is a mystery-thriller itself, so things lurk. First off: the acting and main set are all superb. Plays cast as movies generally have a superficial feeling but Caine and Reeves really sink into their roles (the subtleties in Reeves performance are awesome), and though Cannon was given a Razzie for her performance, I feel she’s great as the wife. The set is the giveaway that this was meant for another format, as it primarily takes place in one long room. But it’s given room to breathe in proper places and the main set is decorated and arranged awesomely. The movie is just a lot of fun. And even after many viewings I still find the twists bold. As mentioned, the ending gets a little too tricksy, but it works in the context of the film.