Loved Downey Hated McAdams

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2010)

I could watch Robert Downey Jr. all day. Those chocolate brown eyes (70% cacao) grab me and hypnotize. Even his wrinkles and crags are interesting. And while I know the magic of the silver screen smooths out the many imperfections of age, whatever it is – his looks, disease, insanity, talent – whatever it is, I love to watch it. Downey as Sherlock Holmes, another drug addicted, crazed, brilliant and erratic creature, is a perfect fit. I didn't even think about Basil Rathbone, whose Sherlock Holmes was equally, though differently, inspired. Rathbone's Holmes emphasized the analytical, precise, cerebral and obsessive genius while Downey went with an intense, physical, neurotic, humorous and homo-erotic Sherlock Holmes. Both were brilliant.
As John Watson (His first name is John?) Jude Law comes off reasonably well as the adoring and put-upon sidekick, though he doesn't dazzle as Downey does. His good looks are tamped down and he only occasionally entices with a twinkle from his razor sharp blue eyes. The love story between them, whether platonic or consummated, is an engaging development, absent from earlier portrayals of a dowdy Watson and almost asexual Holmes. This Holmes' interest in Watson is even more understandable when compared to his other option, Irene Adler as played by Rachel McAdams. What Hollywood forgot, or didn't care to acknowledge, is that Holmes loves Adler because she is as bright, deviant and intriguing as he is himself. McAdams' Adler does not reach this level. That McAdams/Adler is beautiful – and I don't recall if Adler is in the books – is secondary. Adler is the mysterious lost love of Holmes' tortured past. Here, McAdams looks like a precocious teenager, in make up and grown up clothes without a line on her face. Every time she opens her mouth, it is a tiny, flat, little girl's voice. – no richness, no depth, no deceit – no interest. It seems the only thing Hollywood directors want from their women performers is a tight butt – and this, of course, McAdams does have. Difficult to miss in her painted on pinstripe trousers. Maybe that's all Holmes wanted after all, a nice piece ofmmmm. No. Hollywood prefers to infantilize its women and usually, since their roles are little more than sex props for the men, no one cares. Every male actor over 40 must have a contract clause requiring a sex scene with a virginal actress. Downey passes in this film, which was odd until I noticed Susan Downey is a producer. Mystery solved. Anyway, McAdams comes across as an ingénue not a woman of cunning and experience. A love interest between Holmes and Adler on screen required something more than McAdams had to give.
Kelly Reilly does better as Watson's love Mary Morstan. She has some fire in her. As the sidekick's lover, she's allowed to be less attractive than Adler and therefore can show a little personality. Her shame, then disgust at Holmes's revelations about her past is compelling, unfolding in her few moments of screen time. The movie is better for it.
The villain Lord Blackwood is a one dimensional foil for the heroes. However, Mark Strong is elegant and sinister here – a vampire bent on destruction – so he provides what's needed. I spent the whole movie thinking the villain was played by Stanley Tucci, who is a great actor so the comparison is a complement. Then I found out it was Strong, who, I've never heard of. Now that I know who he is, I'll look for Strong next time in astronger role.
Neither Downey nor McAdams do well with an English accent, while Law's and the supporting casts' are naturally excellent. Downey's accent is passable to American ears but would never fool a Brit. At least he isn't jarringly American. Downey consistently drops his R's and breathes into his A's in a passing attempt to keep up the pretense. McAdams is noticeably worse as her speech breaks the mood of old England - her R's are as flat and hard as those of a New Jersey waitress.
The Special Effects are, as Mr. Rogers would say, special. Everything exploding, catching on fire, dropping into the river, the cameras twirling around; they are fantastic. Still, the scene that stays with me is Downey moving his face in and out of several pillars, stalking, hiding, teasing his nemesis as his eyes suck us in with a tidal pull.