"Sir" here refers both to a man of distinction I would like to be respectful towards, and also Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
He would be so proud of what's been done. And no, there should be NO irony read in that statement.
Steven Moffat (of Doctor Who) and Mark Gatiss developed a show for BBC One entitled Sherlock.
Unlike most newer Holmes stories (Young Sherlock Holmes and Downey's Holmes, for example), Sherlock is set in 2010. Surprisingly, there isn't much that needs to be updated.
[Side Note: I do now have a minor issue. For my entire life, I've referred to the man by "Holmes," but now "Sherlock" seems to be how it's done, and I'm at a loss. So please, preemptively forgive my switching between the two, since I know I'm going to.]
Sherlock uses everything that's at his disposal, which now includes the internet (he has a bloody website), GPS, and a BlackBerry (which he never uses to call, only to text. Yes, Sherlock Holmes texts now. Although...even though he has a phone of his own, it seems he uses Watson's iPhone to do most of his texting). But he's still got his brain and over-inflated ego and relative lack of social skills.
Afghanistan is still relatively Afghanistan (history...repeating...), and Watson keeps a blog as opposed to a journal. The violin is still around, as is the fireplace (for some reason, it is vital that 221B Baker Street have a fireplace); Mrs. Hudson's not the housekeeper but the landlady, thank you very much; the pipe has been replaced with nicotine patches; Lestrade is now "Detective Inspector"; and 221 B Baker Street has, of course, not moved.
I am quite impressed with the cast they've gotten. Martin Freeman (Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide, and soon to be Bilbo in The Hobbit) is quietly brilliant as Watson. I must admit, it took me at least half an hour to be convinced that they cast the right man--he's just so damn normal. He is awed by Holmes, but still gets annoyed by him, and isn't afraid to call him out on some of the shit that he pulls. Freeman is, in essence, exactly what a guy would be who ended up living with the mastermind. There's an utter simplicity and honesty to his performance--zero overacting and amazing acting make him appear as if he's not acting at all. And then I remembered that often, the hardest parts to play are the most simple.
According to Moffat, Freeman "finds a sort of poetry in the ordinary man. I love the fastidious realism of everything he does."
Sadly, the first season only has three 90-minute episodes, courtesy of Steven Moffat, Stephen Thompson, and Steve Gatiss. Although it's updated, what they're interested in is telling stories the way Doyle did--fast as a handgun and irreverent as drawing mustaches on political posters. And of course, using his characters. I think Moffat said it well:
"Conan Doyle's stories were never about frock coats and gas light; they're about brilliant detection, dreadful villains and blood-curdling crimes--and frankly, to hell with crinoline. Other detectives have cases, Sherlock Holmes has adventures, and that's what matters."
However, the bulk of my praise must go to one place. Yes, the supporting actors are spot-on and the writing couldn't be much better, but if you don't have the man, you don't have anything:
Benedict Cumberbatch (I dare you to try to say it out loud four times without laughing, poor man) was born to play Sherlock Holmes, and I don't say that lightly.
Robert Downey, Jr. was an impressive Holmes; I enjoyed the movie well enough, and none of my complaints had to do with him. Rupert Everett, Jeremy Brett, and Matt Frewer were all good, too.
But you know how you can just look at Basil Rahbone and know he was born to play Sherlock Holmes? Cumberbatch is just like that.
Yes, he was good in Atonement and Amazing Grace, he's done plenty of Shakespeare for good companies, he's played Vincent van Gogh and Stephen Hawking.
But his Sherlock...his Sherlock is incandescent.
He is elegant and effortless, spouting minutes worth of observation at a speed that would impress the cast of West Wing.
All at once, you want to hate him, break his BlackBerry, punch him in the face, love him, call him a genius and an idiot, be him, and, of course, have the chance to best him, even though you never will.
m.
title image courtesy of http://tortsh-coed.livejournal.com/tag/bbc%20sherlock
Sherlock texting: http://aparejodefortuna.wordpress.com/
Moffat on Freeman from the DVD commentary of "A Study in Pink," but I lifted it from the wikipedia page.
Moffat on his general dislike of crinoline from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t4pgh
No comments:
Post a Comment