I despair of Reynolds, writing reviews of obscure foreign language thrillers that probably cost the equivalent of a Starbucks latte to make when there is the latest big budget Guy Ritchie movie just begging to be reviewed. Is that how you spend the holiday season? What message are you sending Max? Christ was born, and subsequently crucified and resurrected, in order that we might spend Christmas Day huddled in an air-conditioned movie theater watching explosions.
What to say? Sherlock Holmes is nowhere near as bad as we have a right to expect given that Ritchie is involved. It is probably best not to take the plot too seriously, and some of the fight sequences go on too long and serve little purpose. But Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (as Doctor Watson) do good work here. There is a slight undercurrent of chaste homoeroticism as this pair act like a fussy old married couple. In truth, I can watch Downey in anything; he relies on deadpan humor and a perpetually quizzical expression. There is humor, some nice one-liners, a suitably grimy London, and — despite what the trailer would have you believe — Sherlock Holmes really does have remarkable powers of observation and deduction. If the movie makes any money, it is set up for the appearance of Professor Moriarty in the sequel. Oh, and just like the movies that Reynolds watches, it has subtitles. Go, celebrate the holiday season as God intended.
Upon first seeing these trailers, I assumed a stance of righteous indifference. Ritchie hasn’t been interesting in a good long while, and what little I watched of the last one–what was it again? Wank? Retread?–irritated when it wasn’t confusing me. But you’re right about Downey; I recently saw a small bit of a courtroom scene in the Shaggy Dog remake, the tripe he was consigned to when his many relapses made him an insurance risk, and goddamn if he wasn’t having a great time. And then I just saw the Iron Man 2 trailer, which opens with Downey’s Stark during official congressional testimony calling Senator Garry Shandling “sweetheart”… (there is so much right with that sentence). And Holmes is getting decent reviews, so…
Meanwhile, although I did watch the first half of Che last night (and really dug it), my holiday season hasn’t been all subtitled knotty nutrition. I made my way out in blizzard conditions to see Avatar, and rather wished I hadn’t. Holmes at the very least has to be better than Cameron’s self-serious lumpy fruitcake (despite the jaw-dropping fx).
the Iron Man 2 trailer does have that lovely opening (Downey even blows Senator Shandling a kiss as he departs), but I worry about Mickey Rourke’s brooding Eastern European accent and plasma whips. Then I saw a trailer for the worst-looking Nicholas Cage movie in a long time (at least since Wicker Man); something called The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.