• GENRE: Action
• ACTORS: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Eddie Marsan, Kelly Reilly, Hans Matheson, William Hope, William Houston, Geraldine James



• RATING: PG-13
• PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for younger children. There may be some profanity, but it is not prevalent. Some questionable situations and references to magic and the occult. There is almost (but not quite) brief nudity in a couple of scenes.[1. One of which is shown at the end of the video clip in the full blOg entry.] Lots of violence, but not explicit nor gory. I don’t think watching this movie would harm older teenagers.
• INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie should have a broad appeal for viewers of an appropriate age.
• GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) If you’ve read the Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859 – 1930), or seen other Sherlock Holmes movies, it’s best to pretend you haven’t. This movie is only loosely related to the book. I’ve always thought the detective, Holmes, was a more “dark” character in the books, than in earlier movies. He’s portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. as plenty “dark” in this film. Although there is reference to magic and the occult, I wouldn’t say that dark themes dominate the movie. Perhaps only dim themes, or grey themes. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, but you never get the feeling that there is going to be any big surprise. There isn’t. After all, Sherlock Holmes always evades the criminals and solves the crime. That ingredient in books and previous movies has never changed.




• REVIEW: I liked the movie. Lots of action, though much of it is pretty implausible. The scenery was great too. I wasn’t alive in 19th century England[1. My children would dispute this point], so I can’t say for sure–but I really felt like I was there. This was a dark, rainy, dirty, earthy, disorganized 19th century England too. Lots of dirt. In fact, if I had to sum up the mood of the film one word, that word would be “filth.”
• RECOMMENDATION: This is an action movie. It is not a film about cute puppies, so don’t be offended when it turns out there are hangings, fights, shooting, explosions, and even a few killings. For all these reasons, I found this version of Sherlock Holmes to be quite enjoyable. Definitely worth watching.
• RATING (out of 5 stars): ★★★★★

FOOTNOTES:

You may have noticed that two recent articles on this blOg mentioned the name “Johansson.” Scarlett Johansson is the actress in The Island (2005). Ingemar Johansson is the boxer to who knocked Floyd Patterson down seven times, in their championship boxing match in 1959. A reader wondered if they are related? I couldn’t find any reference connecting the two on the Internet. If they were related, I’m sure the kinship would have been reported somewhere on the world wide web.[1. This is just the sort of knowledge exchange that Al Gore had in mind when he invented the Internet]

Anyway, for the skeptics, here is a side by side photographic comparison of Scarlett Johansson and Ingemar Johansson. Actually, I do see a bit of a resemblance. What do YOU think???

Vintage video clip of the 1959 fight follows…

FOOTNOTE:

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2010

It was the last symbol of a free society. Now it is the latest victim of terrorist threats.

For generations, Americans looking to the U.S. Supreme Court as their last judicial appeal could climb the 44 marble steps leading to its front door and pass through the giant bronze doors, crossing under the words engraved above the stately columns, “Equal Justice Under Law.”

Those majestic steps have served as a magnet, a natural draw for protests of everything from capital punishment and abortion to affirmative action and the imprisonment of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Those steps bore the caskets of justices who lay in repose as thousands of mourners paid their respects. The scene was so iconic, so evocative, that it became a template for depiction of a democracy at its finest, a staple of movies from the film classic “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” to the made-for-TV movie about the contested Bush v. Gore 2000 election called “Recount.”

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court did something that no other high court in a democratic country has ever done — not even Israel. It closed the front door to its building for security reasons, forcing those seeking justice to go through ground-level side entrances to a “secure reinforced area” where they can be screened “for weapons, explosives and chemical and biological hazards,” the court announced.

Note: The side doors–now the only access for the public–were traditionally used for prisoners.