Sparks (2009)

In this deliciously tart adaptation of a short story by Elmore Leonard, a beautiful young widow’s hilltop mansion has just burned to the ground, and a very savvy insurance investigator (Stoltz) shows up at her home to interview her about the blaze. Joseph Gordon-Levitt (“3rd Rock from the Sun”) makes a dazzling directorial debut with this taut cat-and-mouse game played out by two equal adversaries.