Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes

First, let us pause while I lift a ladylike handkerchief and dab daintily at the drool running out of both sides of my mouth. Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law.

BUT THAT ISN’T WHAT I’M THINKING ABOUT.

I’m thinking that this was a movie made for young people. You know how us old folks say that young people mumble, but young people always understand one another just fine? Well, in this movie, Sherlock Holmes talks very fast and low and slurry, just like young people do. It must be so cool to be able to understand everything he says, while your elders are all going, “What?” I don’t remember those days, myself; I think maybe I always was a slow listener.

I’m thinking it’s cool to see Holmes portrayed as the social dysfunctional he was, and Watson portrayed as the impulsive, romantic, man of action that HE was. Read the dang stories! The Holmes in this movie is too comfortable with smoochiness to correspond well with the rest of his portrayal or with Doyle’s characterization. But I’m willing to overlook that.

I’m thinking how odd it seemed to see an entire movie with lots of action/adventure and no gore, no loving lingering on gushing blood or guts or dismemberment, no sex, and the explosions muted and slow-motion. The fight scenes were mostly of two kinds: Holmes plans his moves in advance in grisly detail and then makes the moves ba-boom-boom, and several fights are going on at once with some of them happening partly out of sight. Interesting.

The clothes and sets — the entire visual experience of this movie was delicious. I wish I had seen it on the big screen. Except that the villain, who looked like a cross between Nosferatu and an Edward Gorey drawing, might have been entirely too creepy seen large.

Glad I saw it.

A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Write a fight scene.

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes

  1. jane

    January 7, 2014 at 9:19am

    Love me that Holmes and Watson! Watch it again, and the speech gets clearer. ALSO, sorry, but TURN IT UP! Both techniques improve the viewing experience.

    Fight scenes: Georgette Heyer did the whole Battle of Waterloo in considerable detail. It was pretty amazing.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 7, 2014 at 9:57am

      I considered turning on the subtitles, but I don’t read that fast, either.

      Georgette was QUEEN! Mom and I love her. Thank you SO MUCH for introducing me to her works!

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      • jane

        January 8, 2014 at 10:33am

        I know! I wanted subtitles SOO badly, but, I too, can;t begin to read that fast.

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        • Author

          Marian Allen

          January 8, 2014 at 11:20am

          Gosh, maybe we’ll just have to watch it again, then. Rough life, eh? heh

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  2. kat french

    January 7, 2014 at 9:27am

    I loved it, but I think Holmes speech is supposed to be at least a little unintelligible to us mere mortals, as a way to telegraph just how much faster his brain works than the average person.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 7, 2014 at 9:58am

      That makes a lot of sense, Kat! A bit counterproductive as a production value, but a reasonable choice.

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  3. Carol Preflatish

    January 7, 2014 at 12:08pm

    I’ve watched this movie and was a little bored by it and I love Robert Downey, Jr and Jude Law and am a big fan of the Holmes stories. I’ve been told the second movie is better than the first and I have it on DVD, but haven’t watched it yet. Might be a good thing to do while I’m home since my truck won’t start in these cold temps.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 7, 2014 at 12:20pm

      Mom didn’t like it. I liked it well enough that I’d watch it again, and would definitely see a sequel. The casting alone was worth it; not just the two hotties, but all the casting.

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      January 7, 2014 at 6:46pm

      You mean the BBC series or the one where Watson is a woman? Mom refuses to watch the one where Watson is a woman. I would watch it, but I never watch TV at home, just when I visit her, so I’ve never seen it. lol

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