Title: SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)
The greatest thing about Sherlock Holmes as a character, is there are almost and infinite amount of way to adapt him to the big screen. There are, in the official Sir Arthur Conan Doyle canon, 4 novels, and 54 short stories. Not to mention the various novels that other authors have taken the liberty to write, featuring Holmes as the lead or side character. Interesting fact concerning the canon stories, is that all but 4 stories are narrated by Dr. Watson. Of the other 4, Holmes himself narrates 2, while the remaining 2 are strangely written in the 3rd person. IMDB states that there have been 238 productions to feature Sherlock Holmes, covering TV, Feature Films, and Shorts. All this is to say, there are numerous variations on the theme that is Sherlock Holmes, and he is sure not to go anywhere, anytime soon.
All this leads to Guy Ritchie's take on the immortal Detective Holmes. First off is this, it's really really fun. The last thing I would ever call the latest variation of the great detective is boring. There have been numerous people to take issue with the film since it isn't a classical take on Holmes, isn't directly taken from any of Doyle's stories, and that Robert Downey Jr. is plain odd. Most of these comment are thankfully unfounded, and based on some rather harsh opinions. At least 3 films spring to mind that house wonderful Sherlock Holmes adventures, though none of them are direct adaptations. "Murder by Decree", "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution" and "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes." They all do the character justice, just as does Downey's version. Personally I was more so impressed by the fact that Guy Ritchie had finally found the perfect outlet for his creative juices.
The story of the film is simple enough. Sherlock Holmes must solve a case that has everyone else totally baffled, both his reputation and the very lives of others teeter on the brink. What the movie does to shake off the cob-webs of all previous interpretations of Holmes is to release itself of some of the more singular images. Ritchie decided early on that the phrase, "Elemetary, my dear Watson", would not be included, nor would Holme's defining Deerstalker. Neither of which are missed in the least. He also went out of his way to have a stronger Dr. Watson, in the form of Jude Law, second only to the actively engaging take on the character by Robert Duvall. Luckily Law is British and has no need to fake a horrendous accent. His Watson is very much the do-er, often standing up to Downey's Holmes, even if it is to much avail. It is readily apparent that Holmes needs Watson, though his very pride would never allow himself to admit it. The adventure at hand is one of the few takes on the character to put him at odds with a changing world. At the outset it feels as if there is going to be a strong supernatural bent to the film, along the lines of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", but as the film moves along, it reveals itself to be rather grounded. It's the technology in the film that is making the most strides to confound Holmes to some degree, though he is quick to ascertain the meaning behind each foil. One imagines that in between his cases, before or during his cocaine binges, he does an awful lot of reading.....of everything, at all times. Though it is just a tad over 2 hours, it moves along at a break-neck speed. Mostly this is due to the film being a string of various set-pieces, one larger, than the last. Which is the strength and downfall of this Holmes. It is a blockbuster film. It's made to be accessible to all audiences of most ages, and their respective attention span. True there are many moments where there is more than a slight spark of intelligence written into the dialogue, that does not pertain to name-calling, or flatulent dogs (only once), but that's, as one could dubb it "Holmes-speak". He must rattle off an explanation of the unfounded, not only because the audience may be lot without it, but it is in the very core of his being. The best of which, honestly feels as if it's saying to the audience, "really, you couldn't have put that together yourself."
Sherlock Holmes is one of the greatest characters ever, because he gets to be an arrogant SOB, and while many may find him annoying, they simply have to groan and shake their heads, because 90% of the time (believably less if your name is Mycroft) he's right.
Guy Ritchie does leave the movie open for the inevitable sequel, but does so in the best fashion possible, by peppering moments of Moriarty, throughout the proceedings. Audiences will clamor inevitably to theaters to see that film. The more learned readers hoping to forage into familiar ground, with one of the few literary characters, who will always survive, as long as people are curious enough to ask "Whodunit and how did they do it?" If they are patient enough they will hear the reply, "Now that you're sitting comfortably, I shall begin...."
*** 1/2 out of *****
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