Sherlock Holmes review or how I just don’t get why people liked it all that much :]
My drafts say I have 18 films to review, eek… Better get to work ;) This one was originally watched in January, so I’m about 2 months behind *blush*
{FILM DIARY}
Sherlock Holmes (2009, USA/Germany)
Seen: Monday, 26th January 2010
Runtime: 128′
Director: Guy Ritchie
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly
Production House: Internationale Filmproduktion Blackbird Dritte, Lin Pictures, Silver Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Wigram Productions
Plot: (from imdb)
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
Scene from the Film
Impressions In Short
I succumbed to the temptation of watching this despite it not being on my film spotting list because of the good reviews and because I was intrigued to hear that there’s a homoerotic vibe between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, but was disappointed on both counts :] I should have trusted my original judgement ;-P
More About the Film
The fun part of the film was Jude Law - he was genuinely funny. And in fact the one bit of the film that did have a slightly homoerotic vibe (the clip I embedded above which is actually a bit longer and funnier in the film) was thanks to him. He really did make it sound like an old married couple bickering, which was sort of the point. Most of the homoerotic kind of lines were given to Holmes (as it’s Holmes that is jealous of Watson and keeps sabotaging all of Watson’s relationships with women), but Robert Downey Jr. just didn’t seem to get that bit of the humour :] In fact IMO he just generally wasn’t funny and did a poor job of the part (he also messed up the British accent). I don’t think the film was particularly good anyway, but it would have probably been more enjoyable if they had had a better Sherlock.
Something else that annoyed me about the film were the two women (both Holmes and Watson have romantic interests). I mean I don’t really want to complain about the actresses (Kelly Reilly was rather good as Watson’s romantic interest actually), but I hated the casting. If you take the story, both of those women have some history. If I remember correctly, Mary (Watson’s fiancée), is a widow. Irene Adler (Sherlock’s romantic interest) is a serial murderer who kills all her rich husbands. Both of them seem to be of a similar age to Watson and Holmes (in a way that even seems to be part of the attraction - they’re both men, who need women who have some experience of life). But of course, because this is Hollywood we’re talking about, they cast two actresses below the age of 30. These were parts for actresses 10-15 years older, but of course Hollywood can’t have that now can they *rolls eyes* I don’t mean to criticize the actresses themselves, they did nothing wrong. I just hate how Hollywood thinks that actresses can’t play romantic interests if they’re over the age of 35.
On a final note - the soundtrack is pretty unusual. I really hope that it gets used by some figure skaters cause it could make an awesome competitive program *grin*
Recommended?
Nope, not really. Though considering the reviews, I’m probably in the minority on this one :] It’s a good one for Jude Law fans though.
