I figured out why, exactly, I love Sherlock Holmes so much.
As you know, Bob, I'm a huge Robert Downey Jr fan. I will go see him in a movie where he sits on a stool and reads the phone book for two hours. This is not a secret.
That being said: No matter how much of a drooling fangirl I am, not every movie he's in works for me. I loved Iron Man beyond all reason and have probably seen it twenty times. And then he did "Tropic Thunder."
And he was amazing in it. Robbed of the Oscar, IMO. But I didn't actually like the movie itself that much. Yes, it was alternately hilarious and horrifying, sometimes at the exact same moment, but the horrifying moments and the near-constant f-bombs overshadowed my enjoyment. I only saw it once, and it's not in my DVD collection (yet).
Then he did "The Soloist." Which he and Jamie are both amazing in. But it's a Big Serious Movie about Big Serious Issues, and it's not, for lack of a better word, "entertaining." Nor is it meant to be. It wrestles with a tough issue, and I'm good with that, more power to them for going there and not ending it with sunshine and roses and easy answers. But, again, I've only seen it once. There's only so much Sad I can take.
And then Sherlock Holmes crossed my radar. Well. It crossed my radar before they even began filming, because of the aforementioned "drooling fangirliness." I have been looking forward to this movie for over a year. I was terrified that it would disappoint me, that it would rape a beloved character sideways, that it would fail to Tell Me A Story. I had to wait a week after it was released to see it, for various reasons, and I was on pins and needles.
And then I finally got to see it. And it thrilled me. The characters, the story, the cinemetography, the acting, OMG the music--it was a delight from beginning to end. THIS RIGHT HERE is what a movie should be. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a RDJ movie. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a Sherlock Holmes movie.
The relationship between Watson and Holmes. Holmes being a badass. Holmes being too clever for his own good. Holmes having a woman fall in love with him with no idea what to do with that. Watson being long-suffering. Mary being awesome. A villain with a dastardly plan that only Holmes can thwart.
And underlying it all, a sense of out and out FUN. I've now seen this movie three times, and it never gets old. It's brought back the same feelings I had watching Iron Man. And that's why I love it.
That being said: No matter how much of a drooling fangirl I am, not every movie he's in works for me. I loved Iron Man beyond all reason and have probably seen it twenty times. And then he did "Tropic Thunder."
And he was amazing in it. Robbed of the Oscar, IMO. But I didn't actually like the movie itself that much. Yes, it was alternately hilarious and horrifying, sometimes at the exact same moment, but the horrifying moments and the near-constant f-bombs overshadowed my enjoyment. I only saw it once, and it's not in my DVD collection (yet).
Then he did "The Soloist." Which he and Jamie are both amazing in. But it's a Big Serious Movie about Big Serious Issues, and it's not, for lack of a better word, "entertaining." Nor is it meant to be. It wrestles with a tough issue, and I'm good with that, more power to them for going there and not ending it with sunshine and roses and easy answers. But, again, I've only seen it once. There's only so much Sad I can take.
And then Sherlock Holmes crossed my radar. Well. It crossed my radar before they even began filming, because of the aforementioned "drooling fangirliness." I have been looking forward to this movie for over a year. I was terrified that it would disappoint me, that it would rape a beloved character sideways, that it would fail to Tell Me A Story. I had to wait a week after it was released to see it, for various reasons, and I was on pins and needles.
And then I finally got to see it. And it thrilled me. The characters, the story, the cinemetography, the acting, OMG the music--it was a delight from beginning to end. THIS RIGHT HERE is what a movie should be. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a RDJ movie. THIS RIGHT HERE is what I want in a Sherlock Holmes movie.
The relationship between Watson and Holmes. Holmes being a badass. Holmes being too clever for his own good. Holmes having a woman fall in love with him with no idea what to do with that. Watson being long-suffering. Mary being awesome. A villain with a dastardly plan that only Holmes can thwart.
And underlying it all, a sense of out and out FUN. I've now seen this movie three times, and it never gets old. It's brought back the same feelings I had watching Iron Man. And that's why I love it.