Other People

Wild new takes on Sherlock Holmes are for Other People.

I don’t know how I feel about this new Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes movie, starring Robert Downey, Jr. as the deerstalker cap-wearing sleuth created by Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jude Law as his sidekick, Dr. Watson, along with Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, the female match for Holmes.

For starters, Downey and McAdams are winners. Downey’s had a hard road to travel down to come back to all this newfound success, but he’s earned and we like him. The same with McAdams, who’ll soon be starring in the adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife, a book that I love (even if the movie doesn’t look that great).

But Guy Ritchie? Ehhh.

And Jude Law? Aren’t both of these guys’ careers in serious downturns?

Also, Sienna Miller’s career has smelled and looked a lot like cancer rot for years now, but I still blame that on Jude Law. Actually, I still ponder who he could cheat on her. And I wish that real people like you and me could get away with naughty shit just by citing “sex addiction” and then spending a few weeks in rehab.

Plus, it seems like the dichotomy of the Holmes/Watson relationship is off a tick here, with Holmes being the touch guy, the shirtless brawler, the sleazy womanizer, etc. Does that mean that Law’s Watson is the prissy tea drinker sitting at home all by himself?

Granted, the deerstalker cap and the look of Holmes as we know it wasn’t in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories. All of that was added by the artist who illustated the stories, and thus made it synonymous with the character, much the same as a lot of the things we associate with Superman, like the kryptonite, the flying, etc. all came out of his initial radio appearances. So maybe a little chance on an update of a 122 year old character isn’t so bad?

We’ll see, won’t we?

by Marco Sparks

You can find more about the new movie here and the trailer here.

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