Used Clothes New Holmes

Saw the Sherlock Holmes movie.  Robert Downey Jr. has some kind of amazing magic camera presence and Jude Law is OK too.  But there is a sense of playing grown-up.  The whole thing looked fun but superficial and immature.  It is hyper-flashy with a lot of special effects for a movie set in the 19th century.  How Downey wore his neck tie was more interesting than the dialog.  But that's just me. 

Downey is relegated to conventional comic book brawny, not brainy, behavior to save the world.  His intense physique and interesting personal quirks aren't allowed to interest us.  It is as if the camera or the director, Guy Ritchie, is jealous of Downey and doesn't want to linger on him too long. Too bad. 

We get a taste of how rich the stew could be but the bowl is smacked out of our hands with another fight scene.  I fidgeted through the second half except for the left-hanging ending that was more irritating than suspenseful.  It had too many empty calories for a full length movie.  I left thinking,  I should be packing. 

Instead, I indulged my passion for picking quality fabrics from over-stuffed  racks of color-sorted used clothes at one of several Albuquerque thrift stores.  I'm just procrastinating.  But I can spot linens and wools crammed in with the polyesters from over 12 feet away!

Comments

[Hunter]

Growing up, I was a big fan of Basil Rathbone's Holmes. But then came along Jeremy Brett. Based on the trailer, Downy Jr. as Holmes is a comic book character and has nothing to do with Conan Doyle's creation.

[Inky Ink, Inc.]

I'm huge fan of Jeremy Brett too. Regardless of how many others have played Holmes or might play Holmes in future, I think Brett is the man. As for Guy Ritchie, the whole concept of him doing an action/mystery/period costume piece just seemed weird from the git go. His genre is the hipster/swinging London/gangster mashup and he should probably stick to it. RocknRolla, Snatch, and Lock Stock & 2 Smoking Barrels are great fun. Ritchie is very good at creating his own unusual, appealing characters-no need to try & reinvent someone else's.