Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Sherlock...Ritchie has turned Holmes into a rock-and-roll roué resembling a young Keith Richards.
Daily Telegraph ^ | December 15, 2009 | Marc Lee

Posted on 12/15/2009 9:10:59 AM PST by C19fan

Long before the film was in the can, there were worrying signs. Early reports suggested that the re-imagined Sherlock Holmes would not be wearing a deerstalker, nor would he be sucking pensively on a Meerschaum Calabash. We already knew that this most quintessential of English characters was to be played by an American – and that the director had not made a great film for almost a decade.

................................

Ritchie has turned Holmes into a rock-and-roll roué resembling a young Keith Richards. He is an inveterate drug abuser and lives in decadent squalor; yet he is also a master of martial arts, happy to show off his six-pack in the ring as a bare-knuckle fighter. And the monstrous hangovers never dull his skills as a sleuth without peer.

................................................

The relationship between the latest Holmes and Watson hints at a homo-erotic dimension. They frequently squabble like a married couple, and Holmes spends much of the movie trying to persuade Watson not to leave their shared accommodation at 221B Baker Street as Watson makes arrangements for his forthcoming marriage.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: downey; holmes; sherlockholmes
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 next last
To: latina4dubya

Didn’t they just put in a bid for a loft together? Bought it from under Cuddy?

Nice starter home for a couple. lol.


21 posted on 12/15/2009 9:38:39 AM PST by GeronL (Join the Palin Beer Summit Putsch!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Cuttnhorse

Yes. Jeremy Brett was the definitive, thinking man’s Holmes. I can’t imagine anyone doing a better production than these masterpieces. And I can’t figure out why movie makers want to take everything down to their own, juvenile, ignorant, faux-cool level.


22 posted on 12/15/2009 9:42:44 AM PST by La Lydia
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: C19fan
Why can't FReepers just enjoy a fricking movie without whining about how gay it is or how leftist it is. Are you going to become indoctrinated after viewing it? How fun would the movie be without the drug usage, the narcissist behavior from Holmes, and the fighting? Holmes was a brawler, he had bad habits and hygiene, and Watson was his right-hand man, so the movie isn't a far departure from Arthur Doyle's original short stories.

People really believe that the 1800s was an idyllic, magical conservative time. Nothing could be further from the truth. The period had just as much homosexuality, prostitution, crime, and drug abuse as now.

23 posted on 12/15/2009 9:44:18 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (10 YEARS OF FREEPING! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY EEE!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: C19fan
Gay Richie, Robert Downey and Jude law.... what a crock!

I'll stick with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.

24 posted on 12/15/2009 9:47:34 AM PST by Reagan Man ("In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: latina4dubya

The Wikipedia Page for House has a whole section on similarities to Sherlock Holmes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_(TV_series)

Its a pretty interesting comparison. I think the show’s originators specifically had Holmes in mind when they wrote House.

SnakeDoc


25 posted on 12/15/2009 9:47:54 AM PST by SnakeDoctor ("Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much." -- John Wayne)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: SnakeDoctor
The orginal Sherlock Holmes was a drug user, morphine I think.

I loved Ritchie's "RockNRolla".

26 posted on 12/15/2009 9:49:09 AM PST by KC_Conspirator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: C19fan

It’s the action sequences that are probably going to keep me away from this movie. Holmes as a druggie is actually from the books, and his relationships were weird in the books too. But those big fight scenes are just outside the realm of Holmes.


27 posted on 12/15/2009 9:49:16 AM PST by discostu (The Bluebird of Happiness long absent from his life, Ned is visited by the Chicken of Depression)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

So you enjoy watching butt stuffers. LOL

Take you libertarian morals and stuff’em!


28 posted on 12/15/2009 9:50:07 AM PST by Reagan Man ("In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: SnakeDoctor

House contains a lot of hat-tips to Sherlock Holmes. House’s apartment is at 221 Baker Street (revealed first season), and it’s apartment “B”. Wilson/Watson is obvious, and his basic alienation of everyone except Wilson is similar to Holmes and Watson. We haven’t seen if House has a brother (Mycroft?)

House is addicted to painkillers, much as Holmes was addicted to cocaine. Wilson and Watson are both married and then divorced, largely due to their association with House/Holmes and the demands they make on their time.

Holmes would play the violin to concentrate, House plays the guitar. About the only largely missing piece is the meerschaum pipe and the deerstalker...

Finally, it’s arguable that House’s Dr. Cuddy plays the role of Mrs. Hudson, Holme’s housekeeper, often cleaning up the mess and putting up with his insane antics.


29 posted on 12/15/2009 10:00:29 AM PST by jnaujok (Charter member of the vast, right-wing conspiracy.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Reagan Man
So you enjoy watching butt stuffers. LOL

If I did, I wouldn't be a poster here for 10 years.

Take you libertarian morals and stuff’em!

You're describing a libertine. I'm not a libertine.

Giants still gonna make the playoffs? ROFL

30 posted on 12/15/2009 10:09:51 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (10 YEARS OF FREEPING! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY EEE!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: stuartcr

I still think no one can do Holmes like Jeremy Brett could.

Disagree: the classic Holmes is Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Once seen, all pale in comparison.


31 posted on 12/15/2009 10:11:31 AM PST by equalitybeforethelaw
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: equalitybeforethelaw

Seems like we disagree. I liked Rathbone’s movies, but in my opinion, he didn’t get into the character like Brett did.


32 posted on 12/15/2009 10:18:10 AM PST by stuartcr (If we are truly made in the image of God, why do we have faults?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: GeronL
Didn’t they just put in a bid for a loft together? Bought it from under Cuddy?

i was under the impression that Wilson was buying it... not the two together...

33 posted on 12/15/2009 10:24:00 AM PST by latina4dubya ( self-proclaimed tequila snob)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: latina4dubya

heh.

House has had separations issues before when Wilson tried to move out.

Could just be dependency issues I suppose, we KNOW House has those.


34 posted on 12/15/2009 10:28:18 AM PST by GeronL (Join the Palin Beer Summit Putsch!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: stuartcr

Jeremy Brett as Holmes is my all time favorite thing ever shown on PBS; hands down. When he died back in 1995, it was sad to think no more new episodes would be produced.


35 posted on 12/15/2009 10:29:28 AM PST by NewMexLurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

So touchy.

Libertine, libertarian, not much difference. Btw, how’s your hero Ron Paul doing?

The Giants just won a Super Bowl in 2008. Can’t win’em all. When was the last time your team won a Super Bowl?

How about them Yankees!


36 posted on 12/15/2009 10:29:28 AM PST by Reagan Man ("In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: discostu

IIRC, the original Holmes did make reference to him being a competent boxer.


37 posted on 12/15/2009 10:29:41 AM PST by ctdonath2 (It from fit.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: SnakeDoctor

Sherlock Holes is based on Dr. Joseph Bell, Holmes was loosely based on Bell and his observant ways. Bell was aware of this inspiration and took some pride in it.


38 posted on 12/15/2009 10:32:39 AM PST by JimC214
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: JimC214
Bell was also Queen Victoria's physician, and in one episode of House, Wilson Gave House a Book on diagnostic medicine written by Bell.
39 posted on 12/15/2009 10:35:08 AM PST by JimC214
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: NewMexLurker

I would much rather rent the PBS “Holmes” series, with Brett, from Netflix, than shell out ten bucks to see a gay Hollywood version.


40 posted on 12/15/2009 10:40:44 AM PST by Palladin (Holder and Obama are terrorists.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-55 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson