Sunday, January 3, 2010

Nog Deduces the Major Problems of Sherlock Holmes!

I'm not a fan of Guy Ritchie. I found things to like in both Lock, Stock and Snatch (Pitt's hilariously accented performance), but fail to understand the people who watch and rewatch them. The style is too hyperactive for me. I'll take Tarantino any day, who allows his characters room to breathe (and talk and talk and talk) even beneath his grab-bag of stylistic devices. So I was immediately leery of Ritchie as the choice to turn Sherlock Holmes into a very ass-kicking/James Bond-y kind of sleuth, and the film is about what I expected: hyperkinetic action sequences and mildly diverting banter between Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law). The two good actors do work well together (the film seems to be striving to evoke some sort of 80's action-buddy comedy nostalgia), and, in Ritchie's defense, he does occasionally employ his barrage of quick cuts and slo-mo to purposes that actually suit the characters (for instance, we often see Downey's Holmes mentally walk himself through the steps of a fight before we see the actual fight itself,: it's interesting the first two or three times). As mainstream entertainment, one could certainly do worse, but I won't be first in line for the inevitable sequel that the film spends the last five minutes setting up (unless, of course, they hire a new director and get somebody really fucking cool to play Moriarty!).

7 comments:

  1. Oh, I didn't know this was a Guy Ritchie film. I'm still refusing to see this one, but I'm with you on SNATCH: it's a fun enough time, I suppose, and Brad Pitt is hilarious, but why such a strong and loyal following? If people thought this way about THE FRENCH CONNECTION, I'd understand completely.

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  2. Yeah, the followings for some films are hard to explain.

    Why do people worship Boondock Saints?

    (yet I find my own devotion to Repo Man 100% understandable...and normal!).

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  3. I like SNATCH and LOCK, STOCK, etc. as part of the genre of British gangster flicks (I love LAYER CAKE, SEXY BEAST, and IN BRUGES), but didn't know that they have huge followings. Cult films are impossible to explain, sometimes even to ourselves.

    BTW, I'm going out of my way to avoid SH.

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  4. I actually kinda want to see Sherlock Holmes. But I have a thing for Jude Law, and I hear there are some homoerotic undertones between Holmes and Watson, which is always fun.

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  5. I'm a huge fan of In Bruges (but lukewarm on the others).

    Wise move on SH, Dr. C! There's just no real need for it to exist!

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  6. I want to bang Rachel McAdams, but I was still bored.

    Of course, I'm in the minority on SH. And our friend Dink gives it high praise.

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  7. Well, I'd certainly never push Rachel McAdams out of bed.

    And I love the fact that she rides public transportation: http://www.egotastic.com/entertainment/celebrities/rachel-mcadams/rachel-mcadams-is-riding-the-bus-001543

    "engagement rings, they don't mean nothing."

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