You wouldn't expect a movie wholly consisting in two ageing men trolling each other to be much fun, but it remains compelling throughout its run.
It's class warfare in a single room practically between older wealthy man and a young but humbler and more ambitious man. As civilised as the whole thing seems on the surface, it still ends up being quite animalistic at the root, with the pair bullying and trying to humiliate each other for supremacy in a house with no spectators at all.
Olivier and Caine deliver excellent performances in their respective roles and play off well against each other.
It's compelling, and it's impressive that it does so with solely two (or possibly three, but I didn't read up much about the third character), but at the end of the day it seems to be nothing more than frivolous diversion. A lot of energy is expended only to get back to square one and you get the feeling that all you've done is seen a passing performance.
Honourable Mentions: High Strung (1991). Amazing movie involving mostly just one man complaining at the camera in his apartment during the film's run. There are a few other characters that come up (I think four characters total), but it seems to me to be a lot more meaningful than this movie.
It's class warfare in a single room practically between older wealthy man and a young but humbler and more ambitious man. As civilised as the whole thing seems on the surface, it still ends up being quite animalistic at the root, with the pair bullying and trying to humiliate each other for supremacy in a house with no spectators at all.
Olivier and Caine deliver excellent performances in their respective roles and play off well against each other.
It's compelling, and it's impressive that it does so with solely two (or possibly three, but I didn't read up much about the third character), but at the end of the day it seems to be nothing more than frivolous diversion. A lot of energy is expended only to get back to square one and you get the feeling that all you've done is seen a passing performance.
Honourable Mentions: High Strung (1991). Amazing movie involving mostly just one man complaining at the camera in his apartment during the film's run. There are a few other characters that come up (I think four characters total), but it seems to me to be a lot more meaningful than this movie.