Review: Sherlock Holmes
What do you get when Guy Ritchie directs a film about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle characters? Something that doesn't much resemble the work of either artist, in the case of the new movie Sherlock Holmes.
After solving a shocking mystery, the self-indulgent and manipulative Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is sulking for lack of a case and the impending move of his best friend and roommate with Dr. John Watson (Jude Law). Their bromance is threatened not only by the resurgence of the case, but a future fiancée and a returning lover/nemesis.
Sherlock Holmes is gritty, pretty and devoid of much substance, focusing instead on the flash and deception the villain in the film uses to pass as magic as tattered as Holmes's smoking jacket. Much the same can be said about the original script from Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg.
Law and Downey have chemistry as a team, but both seem to be off their mark, as if they're having to keep too close an eye on where the mark has moved. As villains go, Mark Strong is wasted; the heavy-handed arrogance written into the script leaves Strong stuck in a stereotype. Rachel McAdams, a shady lady who re-enters Holmes' life, doesn't have a lot to work with.
The standout performance, and perhaps the only well-defined and refreshingly written role, was Kelly Reilly as Mary, Watson's paramour. Normally such a supporting role is either comic relief, eye candy, or shrewish (or all the above). Reilly's Mary, while beautiful, is as smart as any character was written to be in Sherlock Holmes.
Ritchie can make entertaining action films, even ones with dizzying plots like Snatch, but Sherlock Holmes' script mistakes unfocused for frenetic, and it never seems to gel. This variation on Sherlock Holmes is best viewed when divorcing the characters in the film with those originated by Doyle.
A viewing tip: Apparently there will be a stinger after the credits run; the advance screening print didn't have it, but a reliable source said another print had one.