MOVIES: Robert Downey, Jr as Sherlock Holmes--The Horror!

• Do Police Check with Pers... linda [September 01, 2010, 02:39:40 PM]
• Subcategory quips wonderactivist [August 31, 2010, 10:19:46 PM]
• The Continentals: Mystery... TheDeeMan [August 30, 2010, 03:42:33 AM]
• How much do they say? Old Bill [August 27, 2010, 08:57:01 PM]
• The Welcome Wagon Thread Criminal_Writer [August 27, 2010, 07:15:09 PM]

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[wonderactivist]

Huge AC Doyle fan here, and I agree, the movie surprised me - I LOVED it - the grit and the fight scenes were completely on the mark! 
 
Not much to add to what's already been said except that we have the original Strand illustrations and Jude Law is a dead ringer for Watson.   I adored Jeremy Brett, but his one flaw I felt was his portrayal of Holmes was too clean.  If Hollywood needed to spice up Holmes for a new generation, I'd much rather they tinker with Irene Adler than Sherlock!   

Lucie

[linda]

It has obviously been a long, long time since I've reread my Holmes collections.  I should have realized that Jim and the rest would be able to keep me straight on the accuracy of the movie.

My purpose was to move these posts back into the forefront so that others would also enjoy the movie, and apparently that has been done.  I'm glad that the rest of you liked it also.

Linda

[B L McAllister]

Byron,

Re your question below:

Wasn't [Nero] Wolfe born in Montenegro?  Unless I'm mistaken about this, Baring-Gould has some explaining to do--though travelers do often give birth in striking places.

As I recall, Mr. Baring-Gould suggests that Wolfe was the issue of a liaison that occurred between Holmes and Miss Adler during the "long absence" when the famed sleuth, believed by the public at large to have been killed by Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, was traveling incognito all over the world.

The contact may even have taken place in Montenegro.

This is all from memory, but if you're really interested, Baring-Gould's explanation can be found in his scholarly "biography" of Holmes, Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street.   He also suggests Holmes's parentage of Wolfe in his scholarly biography of Wolfe, Nero Wolfe of West 35th Street.

Is there anything in the description of either partner to the proposed liaison that would genetically account for Wolfe's rather robust poundage?  (Actually, I have quite a bit of trouble pretending  Wolfe, Holmes, Adler and Goodwin are real people, so I'm grateful to you and others for making the topic bright and interesting beyond where I'm willing to plod.) By the way, it's fun to go to Google Earth and seek out Wolfe's 35th St. address.  Damp, I suspect.

Byron

[JIM DOHERTY]

Byron,

Re your question below:

Is there anything in the description of either partner to the proposed liaison that would genetically account for Wolfe's rather robust poundage? 

I believe Baring-Gould speculated that it might have been a recessive gene in Holmes that also mainfested itself in Homes's brother Mycroft.

[JIM DOHERTY]

Re my comment to Linda below:

First of all, Holmes was handy with his dukes, and was something of an athlete.  Recall the barroom punch-up he had with the villain in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches." 

Actually, the barroom boxing match was in "The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist," not "Copper Beeches."

I guess I got them confused because in both cases Holmes's client was a pretty young nanny.

[Alice]

Haven't been here in a very long time and what do I find?  A topic that simply doesn't come up in any part of my daily life.  Reminds me why I lurked around here so much. 

And now I'll have to go see the movie.

Alice

[Peg H]

I went to see the movie today.  EXCELLENT!  It has the true flavor of  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's writing and not the sanitized Hollywood versions.

[JIM DOHERTY]

In the 31 December issue of National Review, apparently to coincide with the release of this movie, Theodore Dalrymple wrote a really fine article, titled "The Enternal Detective," about the enduring appeal of Holmes, and about the innate decency of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

You can find it on National Review's website here:

http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=MWRlMGYwN2I0YjdkZDY1MWM5ODk1NjJmYzM0YTc2ZTU=

[B L McAllister]

Thanks, Jim. It's a very fine article.
Byronjavascript:void(0);

[TheDeeMan]

Loved the movie. HATED RDJ as Holmes.

Dee

[linda]

I loved Downey as Sherlock Holmes.  Fortunately, people don't always agree on what's the best thing, or person, for the job.