I know. One of my first blog posts was my disbelief at the poster for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes film. Robert Downey Jr. stared out from it like some kind of weird Jimi Hendrix wannabee rather than the globally recognized Holmes. Since then, I've seen the trailer and have discovered that perhaps for the first time, I share something with Madonna: a nagging loathing for Guy Ritchie.
http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X29IK0auNnw
If Guy Ritchie had decided he wanted to make a film about a charming Victorian rogue who happened to be a detective, it might actually have been a compelling movie. Instead, he chose to take one of the best known fictional characters in history and simply dismiss his most distinctive qualities. Holmes was never charming. Holmes was certainly not interested in romance. He was immaculate in his habits. So, Guy Ritchie presents us with a "Sherlock Holmes" who is enchanting, impassioned, and slovenly. Thanks.
What bothers me the most is the arrogance it reveals. Certainly, legendary characters can be revisited and refreshed, as J.J. Abrams did recently with Star Trek. Using new actors and plot devices, he brought a vigorous reboot of the franchise to the screen. He didn't sloppily decide to make Vulcans comic-relief characters or Kirk cowardly. Yet, so far, it appears that Guy Ritchie couldn't be bothered with the specific qualities that make Sherlock Holmes a masterful character. It almost seems as if he took an idea and thought, "Let's just retitle the character Sherlock Holmes because that will give it name recognition."
In all honestly, the film looks like it could be a lot of fun. It just needs a different name for the lead character.
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This complete disregard for the novels about Sherlock Holmes reminds me a bit of the film made some years ago of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, which starred Demi Moore as Hester Prynne and featured Hester and the reverend in a hot tub at one point.
ReplyDeleteCan we enjoy this movie if we pretend he's NOT Sherlock Holmes? I'm not sure how distracting that would be.
Hester Prynne in a hot tub? Please, no!!!
ReplyDeletei saw demi in the hot tub. it happened...
ReplyDeleteScarlet Letter is one of my all-time favorite novels (due to the best English teacher ever with whom I studied it), and I was horrified by the movie adaptation.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand the lack of respect for authors and their characters. I just read that someone else is writing a sequel to Catcher in the Rye. How is that acceptable--especially when the author is still alive?
I love movies, but I love books more. I know that a movie cannot include everything in the book, but it's possible to deliver an adaptation that's true to the spirit and basic plot of the book. Doing anything less seems a cop-out.
*browses by*
ReplyDeleteUm, Holmes was never charming? Excuse me? He seduced Milverton's housemaid and became engaged to her within a few short days. Granted, it happened off-camera, but methinks he couldn't have done that without executing at least some charm. Also, Watson mentiones his "ingratiating way with women".
What bugs me is the plethora of so-called experts dissing the trailer wailing "that's not Sherlock Holmes" based on nothing but some cultural interpretation or other of Holmes. The source material is so layered that Ritchie's interpretation is very valid, right down to the slovenliness. (Granted, Watson didn't tell it outright, but spending "days on end" lying on the sofa is bound to make a man look scruffy.)
I was in the middle of rereading all of the S.H. stories when I saw this preview in the theater and I had the same reaction as you. Previews often mislead viewers about the true nature of the complete film, but unless a more promising trailer comes along I likely won’t spend money on this movie. It felt like the trailer looked through a peep-hole at the Holmes character, fixated on a couple of his characteristics and ignored the over-all feel.
ReplyDeleteParts of it seemed entirely out of character. Recurring comments from Watson in the books referred to how Holmes wasn’t very romantically inclined towards women because the one woman who bested him was not available for him to pursue. Combine this with his ruthlessness and his fighting skills and it seems unlikely that the scene in the trailer where he is beaten up by a woman and left handcuffed naked to his bed would ever occur.
Since Holmes did indulge in various recreational drugs, perhaps the trailer was going with the “this is his brain on drugs” approach to the story. If not, someone involved with the film must have been on drugs while putting together those scenes.
EWP...We always agree. :)
ReplyDeleteThe parts of the trailer that bugged me:
ReplyDelete1) the boxing match
2) the pillow scene
3) Watson explaining to us that Holmes is eccentric because he plays the violin at 3am.