Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes tries too hard. The movie is at its best when it is "Sherlock Holmes" plain and simple. When Holmes is 'sleuthing' or bantering with Watson the movie is very entertaining. I loved it when Holmes uses his deductive reasoning to calculate the most effective moves to use to subdue a thug in a back alleyway. He talks it through in his mind, we witness it in slow motion and then in it plays out in real time. It is the opening scene and it is a very clever technique director Guy Ritchie has used in other films (Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels). But in the midst of too many explosions, long drawn out fight scenes, and an over abundance of computer generated images (CGI’s), the movie gets bogged down and loses momentum. Robert Downey Jr. is a far cry from Basil Rathbone or Peter Cushing but he is a fabulous Sherlock never-the-less. Ripped, slovenly, overly moody and possibly too close to Dr. Watson, he is a new take on Sir Arthur Canon Doyle's most famous fictional character. Jude Law is too gorgeous to be a plausible Watson but who cares (I'm a sucker for a pretty face). I loved him in this movie and together they make a terrific crime fighting duo. The acting is not the problem; it’s the heavy handed plot. Something about a secret satanic society lead by Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) that practices its evil business under the House of Parliament. It’s too silly. There is no question, the screenwriters (there are 4 of them) were aware of Doyle’s interest in *spiritualism but it is so over-the-top it becomes a distraction. The very talented and beautiful Rachel McAdams plays Irene Adler, Sherlock’s female nemesis but her role here feels strained. This is a screenwriting problem not an acting issue. The ending screams for a sequel but I would love to see it in someone other then Guy Ritchie’s hands. Ouch, I know, but he’s not my favorite director – remember Swept Away? Awful. There is too much big cinematography (albeit CGI) to recommend renting it. It will be greatly diminished on a TV screen. But I’m having a hard time recommending you spend 2 hours and 15 minutes in the movie theater. Then again, if you are a Robert Downey Jr. fan, and I am a big one, how can you miss it? You can’t.

*Doyle became interested in spiritualism after the death of his wife, Louisa, his son Kingsley, his brother, both brothers-in-laws and 2 nephews. He found comfort in his quest to prove scientifically, that there is life after death. In his novel, The Land of Mist, Doyle uses another fictional character, Professor Challenger, to reveal his own personal experiences with contacting the dead.