Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes
- Theatrical release date
- December 25, 2009
- DVD release date
- TBA
- Grade
- C-
Long on running time and even longer on fight scenes.
I’m going to have one problem writing a review of this movie: it’s so completely a substanceless thrill-ride that much of it has already slipped out of my conscious mind. And I just saw it yesterday. So if you like rollicking good fight scenes and explosions that don’t stay long in the brain, this movie is right up your alley. If you’re looking for more of a thinking man’s Sherlock Holmes, you’ll have to wait for someone other than Guy Ritchie to direct a movie about him.
That said, the portrayal of the main character is what holds the movie together. Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is clearly some kind of savant unable to function quite like a normal person. A few scenes scattered throughout the beginning of the movie depict him as a man who can’t help but notice everything around him. He’s a man suffering sensory overload 24/7 and is doing his best to sort it all out, partly by locking himself in his rooms with all the curtains drawn. Unfortunately, his best does not necessarily mean being clean (Watson comments on Holmes’ lack of hygiene) or being gentlemanly (Holmes boxes bare-fisted and leaves his opponents with only a chance of complete recovery, a chance he has already calculated to a particular percentage). A character who sees the world so differently is intriguing. Our few glimpses into Holmes’ inner world are enlightening and leave the audience wanting more.
However, as the movie wears on, the director either forgot about Holmes’ particular brand of genius or assumes the audience isn’t really interested, because the last half of the movie is full of explosions and fistfights in which Holmes is easily led by the bad guys and is tripped up fairly obviously by a largely off-screen adversary.
Jude Law is solid as Watson, and neither Downey nor Law seems adverse to playing the two as if they are quarreling lovers trying to get over their impending break-up (Watson is moving out of Holmes’ rooms to live with his fiancee). Besides clearly being too young for the role, Rachel McAdams seems lost as Holmes’ untrustworthy former flame, and we see little enough of Mark Strong’s evil genius that he leaves almost no impression.
It’s really Downey’s movie, with Law along to help ground Holmes’ questionable and erratic eccentricities. However, one nice surprise was Kelly Reilly, who plays Watson’s fiancee Mary. She steals the scenes she’s in by being just as clever (if not more so) than Watson. It’s clear Watson hasn’t fallen for just anyone, but someone as educated and intelligent as himself — someone definitely worthy to be in more scenes and to have a larger role in any sequel.
For a Holmesian-type mystery, the number of clues dropped and never mentioned again is unforgivable. Watson loses the engagement ring he’s bought — the camera clearly shows the audience just how he lost it and where it went several times — but it’s never mentioned again. Even Watson apparently never notices he’s lost it and accepts Holmes replacement ring without comment about the one that got away. Strong’s villain has oddly pointed and crooked teeth — again, the camera makes sure the audience sees this on several occasions — but nothing is ever made of it. Why focus on crooked teeth multiple times if it doesn’t matter? This is Sherlock Holmes’ London we’re talking about — everything is significant, right?
Right??
Apparently not. Or these things are set up for a sequel. In any case, while the cinematography, sets, and production values are impeccable, the direction is sloppy and the writing pedestrian. Handicapped by script and direction, there’s not much Downey can do for the final hour except run around the sewers of London and punch people. Which gets butt-numblingly boring about a half-hour before the movie actually ends.
Sherlock Holmes is definitely worth a rental or even perhaps a matinee ticket, but don’t pay full price for it.
Copyright Martha Kneib. Published 1 January 2010 in What’s New.
Reader comments
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Thanks for the great review! If you ARE looking for a “thinking man’s Sherlock Holmes,” by the way, you do NOT have to wait: Granada Television’s 1984-1994 series starring Jeremy Brett is a jewel worth owning, with superlative acting, impeccable direction, and a dedication to staying true to the original stories that made it a huge success – as well as unique to other versions. It’s the definitive Holmes for Holmes fans!
permalink — 6 January 2010, 11:40