Deathtrap

Based on Ira Levin's ingeniously plotted Broadway hit, 1982's Deathtrap is a witty and clever murder mystery built around four characters: Broadway playwright Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine), whose career is sliding downhill; Myra (Dyan Cannon), his nervous wife; Helga (Irene Worth), the psychic next door; and Clifford (Christopher Reeve), a precocious student from one of Sidney's workshops who has written what looks to be a sure-fire stage hit called Deathtrap. In the first act, Sidney concocts a scheme to kill Clifford and steal his play, after which the story twists and turns and twists again. The majority of the action takes place in the Bruhls' home, and while director Sidney Lumet doesn't quite overcome the source's stagey quality, he deftly moves characters in and out of this tale that is more about concept and cleverness than story and character. In this battle of wits, Caine sinks his teeth into the role of a fading writer who pens a better plot for his own machinations than his theatrical works, while Reeve matches him as a cagey young man with a savage intelligence and a driving self-interest. Making its Blu-ray debut, this is recommended. (S. Axmaker)