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December 24, 2009

Sherlock Holmes Review by Roger Ebert


The less I thought about Sherlock Holmes, the more I liked "Sherlock Holmes." Yet another classic hero has been fed into the f/x mill, emerging as a modern superman. Guy Ritchie's film is filled with sensational sights, over-the-top characters and a desperate struggle atop Tower Bridge, which is still under construction. It's likely to be enjoyed by today's action fans. But block bookings are not likely from the Baker Street Irregulars.

One of the comforts of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories is their almost staid adherence to form. Villains and cases come and go up the staircase at 221B Baker Street, but within that refuge, life stays the same: Holmes all-knowing and calm, Watson fretful and frightened, clues orderly, victims distraught, never a problem not seemingly insoluble. Outside is the fabled Victorian London, a city we all know in our imaginations. I think I became an Anglophile on those winter nights when I sat curled up in my dad's big chair, a single lamp creating shadows in the corners of the room, reading the Modern Library edition of the stories while in the basement I heard the comforting sounds of my parents doing the laundry.

Every Holmes story is different and each one is the same, just as every day has its own saint but the Mass is eternal. "Sherlock Holmes" enacts the strange new rites of hyperkinetic action and impossible CGI, and Holmes and Watson do their best to upgrade themselves. Holmes tosses aside the deerstalker hat and meerschaum calabash, and Watson has decided for once and all to abandon the intimacy of 221B for the hazards of married life. Both of them now seem more than a little gay; it's no longer a case of "oh, the British all talk like that." Jude Law even seemed it be wearing lipstick when he promoted the movie on Letterman.

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4 comments:

Kunal said...

Robert Downey Jr is an interesting actor, but I have not yet been impressed by any of his work. Tropic Thunder was pretty lame, Iron man was good, but how much credit will you give to Robert and how much to effects and crisp writing?

Anyhow, Sherlock Holmes was a character I liked when I was a kid, but recently when I tried to read it, it was kinda lame, and mysteries were generally like not making any sense, something random in the end.

Neither the subject, not the actor is something I will go for.

Caulfield said...

I am very much interested in Sherlock Holmes.

Kunal - See 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' of Robert Downey Jr.. The film is fun to watch.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373469/

Rajiv said...

Seems to be interesting. I might watch it on 3D

Kunal said...

Thanks for the suggestion, Cauli, will try it.
Though time is not something I have in abundance :D

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