When I first heard that Robert Downey, Jr. was going to be playing Sherlock Holmes, I was seriously conflicted. I mean, this is Sherlock Holmes we're talking about here, a much-loved, much-interpreted character firmly embedded in our collective literary consciousness. Is the recent Tony Stark really the right choice for a resurrection of this classic character?
But on the other hand, this is Robert Downey we're talking about here. One of the great actors of our time. I know it sounds hyperbolic, but I mean that in all sincerity. The man has serious chops. I'd watch him as a Teletubby.
Well, I've just come home from watching the movie, and it's the damnedest thing. I'm still conflicted.
I really don't know what to make of this movie. It was a spectacle, for sure, and it looked gorgeous, and Downey was fabulous, and Jude Law was fabulous, and there were lots of funny lines and lots of action and lots of brainy deduction going on.
But it all felt a bit off for me. There was something about the whole thing that just didn't ring true. It was all a bit… um… artificial, I guess, is the word I'm looking for.
One of my friends on Twitter posted a less-than-140-character review of Sherlock Holmes a couple of days ago, saying that the film tried too hard. I think that's a good and apt summation. I'll expand on that slightly by saying that this was a film that was entirely too stylish and clever for its own good. Read the rest of this entry »
