I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Sidney Bruhl (Michael Caine) is a struggling playwright. His latest Broadway play is a critical flop. He retreats to his Long Island home with his wife Myra (Dyan Cannon). He has a copy of a play called Deathtrap written by his student Clifford Anderson (Christopher Reeve). He's bitterly jealous. She wants him to produce it. The question is would he kill for a new play. He invites Clifford to the remote house and bring the original drafts. The discussion breaks down and Clifford wants to send copies of the play to various agents.There is a bit of tension with Clifford in handcuffs. The story meanders after that. It needs to build on that tension. Then comes the twists. The twists are fine but I need more tension. Sidney Lumet may be more concerned about the kiss which is not so shocking nowadays. This may work better as a play. There are some fair back and forth in the last act but I don't care about which ever way it could turn out.

... and about as much fun as a stale Colombo episode. I don't know about the original play but it appears much too stagey a story to be compelling from the start.From the very sluggish start I think I can point the finger at the adaptation. Deathtrap is utterly boring for about 30-45 minutes. Maybe if I hadn't read the premise I would have been a tad more patient but the setup really wears down the plot in the first act.The twisty second act is no more clever than a routine Agatha Christie whodunit. You are so well trained to think ahead of the characters by then that only the very ending can surprise you. And it is not really a surprise that lifts the lot above the pedestrian level of its trodden murder mystery snail-path.So Deathtrap seems to me as the inopportune adaptation of weak stage material. The cast do their best but they can't make up for the lack of effective tension, resulting mainly from too much direct talk about death and traps.

Michael Caine is a formerly successful playwright of the macabre who has had four flops on Broadway in a row, and his latest is an absolute disaster. He sees a way for a smash hit, and it is as sinister as any of the plots of his plays. It involves murder, of course, and his ailing wife (Dyan Cannon) can't believe her eyes when right before them he seemingly murders a young playwright (Christopher Reeve). This of course leads to some surprising revelations and thanks to the presence of a nosy neighbor (the very funny Irene Worth), the twists keep coming at you like raindrops during a hurricane.There is no way to review this without giving away much, and the film should reveal its twists naturally with little being known. I will say then, that this is a clever and handsome adaption of the hit Broadway play, surprising many with a sudden kiss between two of the performers that comes out of nowhere, featuring Cannon's howling scream every time someone comes into a room. She is delightfully funny, a lot less sinister than her conniving wife in "Heaven Can Wait", yet equally as frenetic. The shot of Caine's play being performed at Broadway's Music Box Theatre reveals a play obviously so bad it is surprising that it made it there at all. Real critics come on to spoof their own television images and that gives this a realistic approach to Broadway opening night with Caine proceeding to get rip-roaring drunk, dropping a bottle as he catches a train at Grand Central Station.$52 later from his Long Island stop to his windmill home (a gorgeous set worthy of mention) and Caine is harping at his nervous wife and plotting a scheme so nefarious that you will never know what is going to come next. Reeve's character, the young playwright who becomes a "victim" of Caine's scheme, has issues of his own, and those who have any connection with the theater, whether it be professionally or like me a regular audience, will recognize the type he is playing. Caine cleverly identifies him as a sociopath, and this is where the play twists towards one up-manship, and a revelation involving the delightful North that will have you howling.A clever supporting performance by the delightful Henry Jones as Cannon's attorney is small but importantly revealing to many things going on. His high-hat pitched voice, slightly snobby nose sniffing things out around him, yet obvious compassion, makes Jones one of the more interesting character actors of his time. Actors like him can take a very small role and make their presence unforgettable.With speedy pacing by Sidney Lumet, Ira Levin's play (adapted by him for the screen) is a delightful black comedy of deception, betrayal and a surprise involving someone being exactly in the right place at the right time. Everybody is on their toes in this, sort of the murderous "Noises Off!", another comical play about the theater which would later be a movie starring none other than Michael Caine.

New York playwright Michael Caine (as Sidney Bruhl) is 46-years-old and fading fast; as the film opens, Mr. Caine's latest play flops on Broadway. TV reviewers poke fun at Caine, and he gets drunk. Passing out on the Long Island Railroad lands Caine in Montauk, instead of his residence in East Hampton. Finally arriving home, Caine is comforted by tightly-attired wife Dyan Cannon (as Myra), an unfortunately high-strung heart patient. There, Caine and Ms. Cannon discuss a new play called "Deathtrap", written by hunky young Christopher Reeve (as Clifford "Cliff" Anderson), one of Caine's former students. The couple believe Mr. Reeve's "Deathtrap" is the hit needed to revive Caine's career."The Trap Is Set… For A Wickedly Funny Who'll-Do-It." Directed by Sidney Lumet, Ira Levin's long-running Broadway hit doesn't stray too far from its stage origin. The cast is enjoyable and the story's twists are still engrossing. One thing that did not work (for me) was the curtain call ending; surely, it played better on stage. "Deathtrap" is a fun film to watch again; the performances are dead on - but, in hindsight, the greeting Reeve gives Caine at the East Hampton train station should have been simplified to a smiling "Hello." The location isn't really East Hampton, but the windmill and pond look similar. And, the much ballyhooed love scene is shockingly tepid. But, the play was so good, "even a gifted director couldn't ruin it." And, Mr. Lumet doesn't disappoint.******** Deathtrap (3/19/82) Sidney Lumet ~ Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon, Irene Worth