Can you get away with having only two people in a movie? If they are geniuses and have the benefit of a great story you can.

The story here is about Olivier, who is a writer (supposedly a fairly famous one), and Caine who is... well... not.

Caine is having an affair with Olivier's wife. Olivier and Caine are the only people in the movie.

The movie basically goes back and forth with Olivier and Caine trying to outmacho and outsmart each other. They each have their own little schemes about scaring each other and generally being superior to the other.

My particular favorite part of the movie is when Caine claims to have killed Olivier's wife and framed Olivier for it. The cops are on their way (so Caine claims) and he has left clues all over the house that will point to Olivier. Caine has worked out some little riddles which will help Olivier find the clues so that he can destroy them before the police arrive.

The performance by Olivier during this part of the movie is wonderful. He scurries about the house like a madman, at the same time furious with Caine and needing Caine's help to find the hidden clues.

The setting of the movie (Olivier's outrageous estate) is wonderful and really adds to the movie. From the hedgemaze in the 'backyard' to the coal pile in the basement that Olivier digs through to find one of the clues.

In the end, Caine outguesses himself a step, and Olivier does him in. The final cut from Caine is that mere seconds after Olivier kills him, the police pull up.

Of course, the true beauty of the movie is just what makes it so weird. There are only two characters, and in true Seinfeld fashion, the movie is really about nothing. Nothing much really happens anyway. There isn't any 'action'. All you get in the movie is the interaction between the two characters, and for most of the movie it's magical.

Both of them are stunning in how they have immersed themselves in their characters. You might walk away with the impression that Olivier's character might not be all that much character as you are supposed to think.

There is one part that I really didn't like, and it just took something out of the movie for me.

At one point in Caine's trickery, he shows up at Olivier's house dressed up as a cop and starts asking Olivier a lot of questions about his own disappearance. Now, of course, this is one of those suspend disbelief areas, and you are just supposed to play along with the fact that Olivier is fooled by the terrible disguise. In a movie where everything is going along so nicely, it's hard to suddenly switch gears to suspend this much disbelief. It just looks exactly like Caine. Maybe it's just me.

The film is well directed, and the script is great. It gives you almost the feel of being a play as opposed to a movie.

There is quite a bit of suspense to the movie, though perhaps not in the way intended. It's more of a general suspense in the way that really anything might happen.

This one is definitely recommended, if for no other reason than to ensure that you get a taste of what acting really is.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS